A Problem Shared
by xXMXx
Summary: During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See trailer for details. xx
1. Trailer

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

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So here's how it goes;

**Bold: Narrator**

_Italics: Actions_

_**Bold-Italics: Voice-Over**_

Got it? Great! Let it commence:

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**The start of a new year at East High**

_Students pour into school._

_Troy and Gabriella walk hand in hand down a hallway smiling._

_Sharpay struts through crowded corridors with Ryan close behind._

_Chad and Taylor flirt with each other in the cafeteria._

**And everything changes**

_Ms. Darbus stands at the front of the class with an unusual, older-looking boy beside her._

"Class, it is a great pleasure to welcome a new student among us; Frank Morrison."

_The boy looks bored. He rolls his eyes._

_Chad leans over his desk to talk to Troy on the seat in front of him._

"Dude, I hear this is like the third time he's been moved down."

_Troy chuckles and Frank glares at him._

**A new face threatens to break the bond between friends**

_Frank pushes past Gabriella and Taylor who are chatting. Gabriella crosses her arms and Taylor stares after him with disgust._

_Troy and Chad are talking and eating in the cafeteria when the Frank walks past. He reaches down and takes Troy's bun from his tray._

"Hey!" _Troy shouts after him but he keeps walking._

**Mentally**

_**Taylor: That boy creeps me out…**_

_Frank winks at Taylor. She shudders._

_Chad looks in his locker to find his kit missing._

"Coach won't be happy…" _Troy warns before leaving. As he looks around, Chad hears dripping. He follows the sound to the restroom where he finds his basketball kit stuffed in a toilet. His mouth drops open._

**And physically**

_Frank sticks a foot out as Taylor walks past causing her to trip._

_In another scene, he shoves Troy into a wall._

_He grabs Gabriella's wrist and twists it. She screams and he smiles before twisting it further._

**The gang are hiding an awful secret**

_Looking in the mirror, Troy lifts his shirt to reveal a series of bruises over his torso. He grimaces._

_Taylor sits cross-legged on the centre of her bed sobbing uncontrollably._

_Gabriella stands at the front door of her house, reluctant to leave as her hand trembles over the handle._

_A folded piece of paper lands on Chad's desk in class. He looks around and opens it. It reads; _Watch out. _His eyes dart around the room and he sinks slightly into his seat._

**And when they take matters into their own hands…**

_**Gabriella: Troy? What are you doing?**_

_Troy turns a knife over in his hands and slips it into his pocket._

_**Troy: It's just for protection.**_

_Chad punches Frank in the face hard._

_Gabriella talks desperately to a concerned looking Ms. Darbus._

**Things take a drastic turn**

[Flash various images

_Taylor falls violently to the floor._

_Frank throws many forceful punches._

_Gabriella gets slammed into a wall with a hand around her neck._

_A hand is raised holding a knife and then thrust downward into someone._

_Troy sits hunched up in the dark. It's raining. In his hands, his knife glimmers. He bows his head._

**An experience that will soil friendships**

_Chad says something that clearly angers Troy._

"You son of a - "

_Flash of Troy punching Chad in slow-motion._

**A year that will change them all…**

_Troy bends over a toilet and throws up._

_Taylor looks at a test paper with shock._

"F?!"

_Gabriella tries to hide tears as she walks down a school hallway._

_Chad holds an icepack to a black eye and winces._

_Blood pools out from under a door._

**Forever**

_**Frank: (whispers) I told you not to tell…**_

**[A Problem Shared**

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**A/N: **So I've never written a trailer before. It's kinda rubbish but you get the picture. Tune in for the story. Be warned though, it is definately going to be a long time before I update it because I'm unbelievably busy. I'll update when I can!

**_Happy Guy Fawks Night everyone!_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	2. 1

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**A/N: **Thanks for reviews so far. They are much appreciated. Keep 'em coming!

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**1. **

_The first school bell rang officially marking the end of summer and the start of a new year at East High. Crowds of young people made their way miserably and reluctantly through the front doors each one of them dreading their first lesson and the beginning of another hard year of work. Among the many teenagers were Troy Bolton, Chad Danforth, Taylor McKessie and Gabriella Montez; all back from their holiday at Lava Springs and ready for whatever the new year threw at them. It was weird but each one of them was at least slightly happy to be back at school around their peers. _

The time he'd spent at Lava Springs had been eye-opening for Troy. He had discovered his priorities and taken a huge step in his relationship with Gabriella. The trip and the things that had happened there had also reinforced the brotherly bond between him and his best friend Chad.

Chad Danforth hated school. He hated lessons, getting up early and the lukewarm lunches. He hated it all but was still excited to be back. He couldn't wait to get back into his routine and back to Basketball. The hard work he'd done at Lava Springs had earned him enough money for a car. Where else but school would he be able to show it off.

To be honest, Taylor McKessie _loved _being back at school. She could get back to some proper work rather than the mundane tasks that Fulton had set her to do. She couldn't wait for her first lesson. Also, being back at school meant spending more time with the people who were important to her like her boyfriend Chad and her best friend Gabriella Montez.

Gabriella was just glad that he hadn't has to move schools. She was still at East High with her loving boyfriend Troy. Of all the many schools she had been moved to and from, East High had been the best by far and she was thrilled to still be there.

There had been a lot of moments in the summer that Gabriella would rather have forgotten but, if she had the choice, she wouldn't change a thing. Everything that happened in Lava Springs had made everything the way it was now. She and Troy's relationship was stronger and she as a person was stronger as well.

Another bell rang telling the students to get to their lessons. The gangs' first lesson, no surprise, was Drama with Ms. Darbus.

The class was how it usual was. Ms. Darbus stood at the front raving eccentrically about something that no-one cared about. She spoke with enthusiasm as she received nothing but blank and bored expressions in return. Gabriella listened but didn't care, Taylor listened but didn't understand, Troy stared into space and Chad lay his head on his folded arms on the desk in front of him with his eyes shut as he tried desperately to stay awake.

The lesson continued like this until about five minutes before the break-time bell. The door to the classroom opened stopping Darbus mid-sentence. Through the open door stepped a boy with his face hidden by a hood and his head hung low.

"Mr. Morrison," Ms. Darbus greeted the boy as if she had expected him. The hooded figure walked slowly towards her dragging his feet. "You're late." He shrugged. "Take your hood off and hurry up and get over here. This is a drama class my child. We have no time to dilly, dally or dawdle." The boy shook his hood off with his hands remaining in his pockets but made no effort to quicken his pace. The class watched him intently as if he were a rare specimen in a cage.

With his hood now off, the class were treated to a better vies of his face. Mr. Morrison had a slightly chubby face that would have been pale had it not been covered in red clusters of acne. He was quite tall and had heavy limbs. A good word to describe him would be 'chunky' as he wasn't obese but he had a bit of weight on him; both muscle and fat. His face wasn't new to the class. In fact, it was quite familiar.

"Class," Said Ms. Darbus when the boy finally reached her. He stood beside her, almost a foot taller even with his head hanging low. "It is a great pleasure to welcome a new student among us. Frank Morrison."

Technically, Frank wasn't new. He was already a student as the school and had been for several years. He had just been kept back one or two years because he got such poor grades. Ms. Darbus was just trying to be nice about it though there wasn't much point. Everyone already knew his history. Even Gabriella had heard a little about him here and there.

It was a well known fact around school that Frank Morrison was not one to be messed with. He was a violent boy and many rumours had circulated about problems at home being to blame for his uncontrollable anger. Usually, when he was irritated, he would just end up saying a few bitter insults but he had been known to continually victimize particular students and abuse them both verbally and physically. No-one knew what he was_ really_ capable of or if there was any truth behind the rumours but they _did_ know that their best bet was to stay the hell away from him.

"Well class, please welcome your newest member." Ms. Darbus prompted.

There were a few 'hello's mumbled around the class room but apart from that everyone stayed silent.

"Whatever." Frank muttered as he rolled his dark, empty eyes.

Ms Darbus appeared to be about to say something when the bell rang to signal the start of break. Everyone in the room began to pack up and Chad took the opportunity to lean over his desk toward Troy who sat ahead front of him.

"Dude," he said to get Troy's attention. Troy twisted in his seat to hear what his friend had to say. "I hear this is like the third time he's been moved down."

Troy chuckled. Chad had exaggerated slightly. This was only the second time that Frank had been kept back a year, but it was still funny. Troy was kind of glad that Frank had been moved to their class. It made it more interesting, spiced things up a little.

Still smiling, he twisted back around to start packing the things from his desk into his bag. A quick glance at Frank, who still stood at the front of the class, instantly wiped the smile off his face. The boy was glaring at him with eyes of hate. Troy bit his lip and averted his attention to packing his pencil case into his bag.

He stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder and tapped Chad, who was busy putting his books away, on the shoulder.

"Hey man, ready to go?" He said, his eyes telling Chad to hurry up so that they could get the hell out of there. A single look at Frank, whose expression hadn't changed, and Chad got the picture. He nodded and stood and he and Troy made a swift exit keeping their eyes to the floor and practically running as they passed Frank.

Once in the hall, out of ear-shot, Chad spoke.

"Dude, did you _see _the look he gave us?"

"Uh-huh," Troy nodded. "Do you think he heard what you said?"

Chad shrugged. "Dunno, but I do _not _want to be in that guys bad books."

Troy looked as if he was about to say something when he was cut off by Gabriella's voice behind him.

"Hey guys!" She called down the hall as she walked with Taylor towards them.

"Uh-oh…" Troy muttered. Neither girls looked happy, and judging from the speed they were walking, it was probably to do with one, if not both, of the boys.

"What happened?" She said when she finally reached them. She and Taylor looked at the boys expectantly for an answer and for a moment Chad thought that they knew about what had happened with Frank. That was until Taylor, upon seeing their confused faces, explained.

"You were _supposed _to wait for us." She told them.

"Yeah," Said Gabriella. "After class, like you said you would."

"Oh! Right…" Said Troy, vaguely remembering that he had and Chad had promised to meet the girls after class so that they could all spend break-time in the cafeteria. He was already trying to conjure up an excuse as to why he hadn't kept the promise, knowing that if Gabriella knew that he had laughed at the new kid he'd be in for a long lecture about how hard it is to join a new class and not know anyone. "…Yeah, about that…"

"Something came up." Chad contributed to aid his friends failing attempts to excuse himself.

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "Something came up and we had to take care of it." He lied.

"Right…" Said Taylor sarcastically, obviously not buying it. "And what exactly was this thing that 'came up' that was so important it had you running out the class room?" Her question was aimed directly at Chad, knowing that he cracked easily under pressure when it was applied by her.

He shifted nervously. "Homework." He replied a little too quickly. Troy shot him an angry look knowing that he had given them away but, to both boys surprise, the girls simply laughed and said no more. They made their way to the cafeteria like they had planned and began their conversation on the main subject of the day so far.

"So what do you think of the new boy?" Gabriella asked no-one in particular as she took a seat. Taylor sat beside her and the boys opposite.

Troy and Chad looked at each other before shrugging.

"He's alright." Said Chad simply. "Don't really know anything about him."

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "I hear he's pretty weird. Doesn't talk much or anything."

"When he first started at the school- you know, before he got kept back or anything- he was in my older sisters class." Taylor stated. "She told me that he's really nasty; victimises particular people and makes their lives not worth living, he made one girl leave the school altogether. But he won't bother you if you don't give him a reason to. He's pretty sneaky. None of the teachers seem to notice what he does to people. Either that or their too scared to challenge him."

Having Frank in their class was starting to sound like less and less fun. Chad couldn't help but wonder if laughing at him gave Frank enough reason to victimise him. What if _he _was the bully's new target? Troy was having similar thoughts. If Frank had heard them laugh at him, it would probably make him angry enough to terrorise him and Chad. Taylor had been picked on before, for her brains and her enthusiasm towards learning, and over the years she had developed the skill to block out any negative things that were done to her. She wasn't worried about Frank Morrison. Sticks and stones and all that.

"C'mon guys," Gabriella tried to lighten the mood. The atmosphere had become unbearable as the boys tried to hide worried expressions and negativity filled the air. "He's just one boy. I'm sure he can't be _that_ bad."

In the weeks that followed, Gabriella Montez and the rest of the gang would come to realise how very wrong she had been.

**A/N: There's the first chap. It gets straight to business 'cos I'd get bored otherwise. Tell me what you guys think. I'd love to know! **

**_I think it's Universal Children's Day... Happy Universal Children's Day!_**

**_xX M Xx_**

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	3. 2

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**A/N: **Thanks for reviews so far. They are much appreciated. Keep 'em coming!

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**2.**

_The next few weeks were dull and uneventful as people settled back into the mundane ways of school. Homework and revision became the norm again and the daily routine was put back into motion, constant and stable._

_It was a Tuesday, boring like any other, when Frank started to take an interest in the gang of four friends._

Gabriella shut her locker forcefully causing the bracelet on her wrist to jingle and catch the attention of her best friend who stood waiting beside her.

"Wow…" Taylor breathed taking Gabriella's wrist in her hands and gently brushing her fingertips over the surface of the bracelet as if it would shatter at the slightest touch. It was silver with heart-shaped rubies twined in a golden vine that wrapped around it. "That is beautiful." She said in awe, leaning in closer to take in all the glorious details.

"Thanks." Said Gabriella; also looking at it. She was still herself trying to get used to the unbelievable shine of the object. "Troy got it for me."

Taylor raised her eyebrows impressed before giving her friend her arm back. They began to walk down the corridor to the cafeteria where they had arranged to meet their boyfriends for lunch, a new tradition of theirs.

"It must've cost a fortune." Taylor pointed out. She was no jewellery expert but she new cheap from valuable. "It's real silver right?"

"White gold." Gabriella corrected before she could stop herself.

"Damn, girl. What was the occasion?"

Gabriella smiled. "No occasion." She told Taylor. "He just wanted to 'show how much he loved me'." She repeated Troy's words.

"Chad never buys me anything." Taylor huffed with mock jealousy. She and Chad hadn't been going out as long as Gabriella had with Troy so she wasn't expecting expensive gifts. Not yet anyway.

Gabriella laughed as they turned a corner. "I do recall, Taylor McKessie, that he bought a car just so that he could take you out on a proper date." She reminded Taylor.

"Yeah, that's what he says, but I bet he only wanted it so he could show off to Troy. You know that's what he's like." Taylor joked and the two started to giggle.

"Oh, Tay! You're never satisfied are you?!" Gasped Gabriella between fits of giggles.

"What can I say?" Taylor shrugged. "I'm a girl with standards." She turned her nose up and impersonating Sharpay in one of her snobbier moments. This set Gabi off in another set of uncontrollable laughter.

"I don't know what he sees in you." She said still laughing.

"And I don't know what Troy sees in y-." Taylor was cut off by a sudden and unexpected force that thrust her violently sideways and sent Gabriella stumbling in the other direction. The force knocked her books from her hands and scattering on the floor. The force had been none other than Frank Morrison; strolling down the hall with no consideration of the wellbeing of others as he shoved them effortlessly out of his way.

Taylor's mouth dropped open and she stared after the boy with disgust and hatred etched on her face. He glanced back as if to relish in the discomfort he had caused her and Gabriella, singling them out among the many others he had pushed, and Taylor had to bite back the scowl that threatened to escape her. He grinned, a bitter twist of the mouth that made Gabriella's stomach turn, and then continued on his careless way.

"What a jerk." Gabriella spoke the words that were playing on Taylor's mind as she helped her friend pick up the books she had dropped.

"Yeah," Taylor frowned as she stood up and shifted her books from her right arm to her left and winced. "He really actually hurt me." She realised as she stretched out her free arm feeling a slight- but apparent- ache in her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked. She couldn't quite understand why Frank would collide with them like that; whit such force, as if he had intentionally set out to hurt them.

"I'll live." Said Taylor; grateful of her friends' genuine worry.

With that, they continued to the cafeteria which they reached within a matter of seconds. They spotter their boys straight away at their usual table, engrossed in conversation. They talked excitedly; probably about basketball.

As Gabriella and Taylor neared the boys, they managed to make out enough of their conversation to know that it _was _in fact about their favourite sport.

Chad looked up and saw the girls coming. "Well, hello ladies." He greeted them as they placed their lunch trays on the table and sat down. "And what, may I ask, took you both so long?" He joked. Troy rolled his eyes and smiled.

"That idiot, Frank, barged into us." Gabriella said miserably.

The boys sat up, suddenly alert.

"What?" Troy asked seriously.

"Did he hurt you?" Said Chad with a voice full of concern.

"Calm down guys," Taylor sighed. "It's nothing. Really. Right Gabi?" Taylor nudged Gabriella who frowned with confusion about why her friend was playing it down, but got the hint.

"Yeah." She agreed apprehensively. She looked up from her lunch to see why Taylor had been down-playing it. The boys were fuming. Chad was scowling and Troy's fists were clenched so hard on the table that his knuckles had turned white. The girls had had no idea that their boyfriends would be so concerned about a mere push in the hallway. They did, however, finding quite comforting. "He barely touched us." She verified.

"You sure?" Chad said narrowing his eyes sceptically. His anger already appeared to be wearing off.

"Yep." The girls nodded eagerly.

"Well…if you insist." Troy said reluctantly. The girls nodded again.

"I gotta go anyway." Said Gabriella. "We've got the scholastics club. Coming Tay?"

"Yeah… I'll, uh… I'll meet you there, shall I?" She replied distantly. She was barely listening; too busy with some full-on flirtation with Chad. The two were an odd couple. With their many differences set aside, they remained to be full of surprises and completely spontaneous. One minute they'd barely talk and the next they'd be all over each other. Taylor was definitely the rock of the relationship. She was reliable and assertive. Chad brought the fun and made everything they did interesting and worthwhile.

Gabriella and Troy watched, slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed, as Chad winked at Taylor and then half stood, half leaned across the table to steal a quick kiss on the lips. Taylor beamed, her smile stretching from ear to ear.

"What was that for?" She asked. Chad simply shrugged and, as if the kiss had never happened, continued to devour his meal like a savage beast. Taylor's smile turned to a grimace and Troy tried not to smile.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. _Boys, _she thought. "I'll see you then." She walked away knowing that Taylor would soon tire of Chad's antics and join her at scholastics.

Once Gabriella was gone, Taylor's disgusted expression dropped even further. "Oh no." She grumbled.

"Mmf?" Chad mumbled, his mouth full, spitting out a bit of apple.

"Look who's coming." She nodded her head in the direction of someone behind the boys. They expected to see Ryan or Sharpay when they turned around but instead were greeted to the sight of Frank, walking towards them and staring straight back.

"Damn." Troy cursed as he and Chad spun quickly back around to act as if they hadn't seen him. "Okay, keep your heads down. Maybe he hasn't seen us."

The two did as they were told and Troy joined them.

Frank reached them and, for a moment, they thought he was going to carry on walking until he reached down to Troy's lunch tray and took a bun from it. He bit into the ball of bread and then threw it back down on the table, making sure his elbow hit Troy's head as he retracted his arm and turned to walk away.

It wasn't as if Troy had wanted the bun; he wouldn't have eaten it anyway, but it was the principal. He couldn't allow Frank to take the liberties he was currently getting away with. He couldn't sit back and let someone take advantage of his good nature and upset his girlfriend. So, he spoke up.

"Hey!" He called out to Frank's retreating back.

"Uh-oh…" Chad muttered under his breath.

Troy got up from his seat when Frank failed to stop walking away from him. He started to follow him.

Chad, feeling responsible for his friend, decided that he should probably stop Troy before he let his anger get the best of him.

"Troy…" He warned, his voice stern. Troy ignored him and began after Frank in what was clos to a sprint. Chad sighed and stood up, ready to go after his friend. Taylor's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Leave him." She said. "Let him sort it."

Chad looked reluctant but did as Taylor said.

"Hey!" Troy called again. "I know you heard me!" He followed Frank out of the cafeteria and into the corridor, which was now populated by few students, where Frank; to Troy's surprise, stopped walking suddenly and turned around. Troy had been walking so fact that he hardly had time to stop as Frank had come to an unexpected halt. He ended up no more than a foot away from the other boy, taking in the glory of his pimple-ridden face and unwashed, greasy hair.

"Yes?" He growled, his voice low and teeth clenched. Troy was met with the smell of his putrid breath that suggested he hadn't seen a toothbrush for a long time. For a moment, he was speechless. He'd forgotten why he had followed the bigger, stronger boy and was only aware of the fact that the corridor was now empty. He was alone with this guy.

"I…um…" He stammered.

"What do you want Blue-Eyes?" Frank demanded impatiently.

Troy cleared his throat nervously. "You bit my bun." He said, finally finding his voice and realising, only after he had said it, how stupid the sentence was.

Frank simply laughed. "And?"

"And you barged into my girlfriend in the hallway." Troy continued. He was starting to regain his courage.

Frank looked like he was deep in thought trying to remember what he'd done. Then something within him seemed to snap and he smiled with the sudden memory.

"Oh…." He said nodding. He remembered now. "You mean Sexy Latina?" He asked motioning the curves of Gabriella's body with his hands.

"Don't call her that." It was Troy's turn to talk through clenched teeth.

"Okay, Blue-Eyes. Don't get yourself all worked up." Frank patronised sarcastically. "So what was it you wanted anyway?"

"I'd just appreciate if you left me and my friends alone." Troy told him.

A sour smile crept onto Franks face. "Oh yeah?" He took a step forward, standing centimetres from Troy and towering over him. "Or what?"

"Or I'll make you." Troy warned without thinking.

Frank blinked and stepped back. He smiled. "You're a funny guy, Blue-Eyes." Troy grimaced as his new nickname. Frank chuckled and began to walk away. "Problem is," he continued, still walking away with his back to Troy. "This ain't no joke."

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**A/N: **Thanks so much for reviews! Hope you enjoyed the latest installment. Next chap will be up ASAP.

**_Keep Reviewin'_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	4. 3

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**3.**

_Although he did seem to be sticking to his word and leaving the gang alone, Frank's words stayed with Troy for days. _'This ain't no joke'_ he had said. The question; _What did he mean?_ was keeping Troy up at night, and the fact that Frank had stopped bothering them was no comfort to him because deep down he knew that Frank was just giving them false hope. He was leading them into a false sense of security so that his next move would make even more of an impact._

_And just because Troy _thought _that Frank had left them alone, didn't mean that he actually had. In truth, both girls were hiding secrets from their boys._

"Every day, it's the same. Like he's waiting there for me." Gabriella confessed to Taylor as they sat alone together in an unused science lab. "That horrible, greasy boy. He just stands at the front doors of the school and watches me all the way from the bus until I'm inside." She told her concerned friend what had been troubling her after giving in to Taylor's constant asking. "And it doesn't stop once I'm inside. He follows me wherever I go! If I look at him he smiles politely and stares at me until I look away. I know it sounds like nothing but he's really worrying me. I mean, what kind of freaky person does that, Tay?" She sighed. "What am I going to do?" She asked with despair.

Taylor, know-it-all Taylor, had absolutely no clue what her friend should do. Algebra and Pythagoras couldn't solve this problem. She'd never been in a situation like this before. All she could do was comfort Gabriella and tell her that 'he'd get bored soon' and that he'd find someone else to stalk.

Taylor herself was having a similar problem to Gabriella but hadn't told her friend about it yet. She thought that Gabriella had enough on her plate right now to be dealing with Taylor's problems too so she kept her story to herself for the time being.

Her story was of how every time she went to her locker, Frank was there waiting for her. He'd watch her closely, taking in every move she made, and when she was done retrieving or replacing her books he would wink at her; an action she absolutely adored from Chad but when received from Frank made her skin crawl.

The thing about Frank was that the stuff he was doing could never be considered as bullying. If you looked at it from a completely objective point of view, you may even call him polite or flattering. It was just the sinister, creepy way he did things that troubled all of his victims.

There was something about Frank that deeply disturbed Taylor and the daily worry he caused her coupled with the sleepless nights were affecting her schoolwork.

Even Chad was having trouble from Frank, though he had yet to tell the others about it. His trouble came in the form of small, yellow post-it notes that had been slotted into his locker daily for the past two and a half weeks. Each note had a message scribbled on it in what closely resembled a five-year-olds hand writing. When the notes had first started appearing in his locker and he had found a post-it that read _'Prepare yourself' _sitting among his books, Chad had thought it was just a joke from Troy that he simply didn't understand. When Troy failed to mention anything about it and as the notes became increasingly menacing by the say it dawned on Chad who the real sender was.

He kept the threats to himself, not telling the others, because he knew that it was his own fault the trouble with Frank had started in the first place. Like Taylor had said; 'If you don't give him a reason to hurt you, he'll leave you alone'. Well, Chad had given him reason enough by laughing at him on his first day. For that single gesture, he was paying the price.

"I think I should tell Troy." Gabriella said suddenly after minutes od comfortable silence with Taylor.

"You sure?" asked Taylor. She knew how protective Troy was of Gabriella and was worried that he'd do something that would only make things worse.

"Yeah," Gabriella knew her friend had doubts but was confident that Troy would act responsibly. "I hate keeping things from him. And we _all _need to talk about this Frank business. It can't carry on like this. You know we can't just keep trying to ignore it." Gabriella spoke the truth that Taylor didn't want to hear. "Besides, I need to give you a to tell me what's been bothering _you. _I know there's something."

Taylor squirmed in her seat and looked at Gabriella. _She knew? How? _Taylor had always been great at hiding her feelings before. Then again, before she didn't have a best friend who knew her better than she knew herself.

Gabriella smiled reassuringly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She said.

Taylor thought for a moment. "No," She said. "You're right. We shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other. So what do you say? Think we should call a group meeting."

**Later**

_They met after school, all four of them, in a park close to East High. After settling in the grass under the shade of a tree, the small-talk began as they tried to avoid the subject that they knew would eventually and could potentially ruin the calm, relaxed atmosphere they were trying so hard to maintain._

_Taylor sat with her legs crossed in front of her and her back propped up against the tree. Chad lay with his head resting on top of her lap and she played absently with his curls as they chatted. Gabriella sat between Troy's , leaning back on him as he wrapped his arms around her. The couples, friends, were in an uneasy bliss and no-one wanted to be the first to kill the mood but eventually Troy spoke up._

"He told me he'd leave us alone." He stated blankly and, as he expected, the mood dropped along with the faces of his friends. There was a momentary pause as each of them tried to avoid eye contact.

"He hasn't." Gabriella said finally.

Sub-consciously, Troy's grip tightened around his girlfriend.

"I didn't think so." He sighed.

Gabriella shard the story she had previously told Taylor, stopping now and then to answer questions. Throughout the tale, Troy couldn't help but shake his head with disgust and couldn't hold back the few rude comments that came out of his mouth. When she was finished, there was another awkward silence.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Asked Troy, a little hurt. He wondered if Gabriella thought she couldn't share things with him. The thought worried him.

"I wasn't sure how you'd react." Gabriella admitted.

Troy frowned but decided not to delve any further into the matter. Instead, he looked at his two other friends. "Has he bothered either of you?" He asked.

Chad bit his lip and looked away. He didn't want to tell anyone about the notes and compared to how Frank was practically stalking Gabriella, a few post-it threats sounded ridiculous anyway. So, he shook his head and kept quiet.

"Tay?" Troy asked.

"Actually…" Taylor started, deciding she was ready to share. "Yes. He has been bothering me." She stated. Chad looked up from where he lay on her lap.

"What?" He said with shock. "Wh…Why… didn't you think you could tell me?" His surprise turned to anger. "What's he been doing?"

"Not much." She insisted quickly. "He's not- I don't-… He waits for me at my locker every day. He stares at me as I take out my books. Sometimes he 'accidentally' brushes up against me or bumps into me. He winks and blows kisses….God… that boy creeps me out."

"Son of a bitch…" Chad muttered. "When I see him… Just wait."

"Chad…" Troy warned.

Chad shot up to a seated position. "What Troy?" He snapped. "He thinks he can go around abusing Taylor and Gabriella like that? He's scaring them, man! And I'm not having that… that _pig _touching my girl ever again, d'you hear me?"

Taylor put a gentle hand on Chad's shoulder, easing him back down to his previous position with his head on her lap.

"Chad's right." Taylor agreed. "We can't keep letting him walk all over us. We need to do _something._"

"We could tell a teacher." Gabriella suggested. "Mr. Matsui?"

"No." Troy shook his head vigorously. "No way. That's a bad idea. It'll only make Frank angrier. And Matsui is an idiot. He wont do anything about it. Things'll just get worse.

"He's right. Frank's manipulative. He can make the teachers believe whatever he wants them to."

"Yeah," said Chad. "Telling a teacher is a definite no-no. We all agreed on that?... All agreed?" He asked again raising a hand. Taylor put hers on top, Troy placed his on top of hers and Gabriella's fell hesitantly onto the very top.

"Agreed." They said in unison.

* * *

**A/N: **Okies, so there is the latest installment. This chapter is pretty short but, believe me, the next one will definately make up for that.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Reviews to me are like Krabby Patties to Spongebob (yeah, I love him, so what?). PLEASE review because I'd love to know what people think; negative and positive. The thing says I've had 343 hits so people MUST be reading.

**Can anyone help. **I'm british and I've been trying but I know nothing about american schools. If all I've written seems in order then great; I've been writing stuff like 'cafeteria' which I don't think we use here... We might... If someone could PM me or just say in review the basic stuff that'd be great. Like what do you call break? I call it rec. Do you call it recess??????

**_That A/N was almost as long as the chapter itself. Much love._**

**_xX M Xx_**


	5. 4

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**

* * *

4.**

_In the end, after making a pact that they would never tell a teacher, they decided that they would keep their heads down in the vain hope that Frank would tire of ridiculing them and leave them alone. He hadn't actually hut them physically and he probably never would. If worst came to worst the boys said that they could 'take care of it'. After all, there were four of them. There was only one of him._

Frank wasn't waiting for Gabriella at the doors of the school the next day. Nor was he at Taylor's locker. A slight ray of hope glimmered through the overpowering clouds of despair and fear. It was about noon, during a five minute break in a lesson, when the dark storm clouds rolled back in; shutting out even the tiniest hint of happiness.

Gabriella had been thirsty so she'd excused herself from the class to drink from the hallways nearest fountain. The hall was empty, all the students were in lessons and the staff teaching, and it was eerily silent. Gabriella could only hear the click of her heels on the lino floor as she travelled to the far end of the hall and the drinking fountain located there.

She pushed the button and bent over, putting her lips to the cool, refreshing water that flowed out. It wasn't long before a shadow fell over her and Gabriella became suddenly aware of a presence other than her own.

Feeling vulnerable in her hunched position she shot upright. She spun around only to find herself face top face with the one person she was praying not to see. Frank.

He was already smiling when she turned to face him and did and said nothing as Gabriella gasped at his closeness and jumped back slightly. She watched his every move, frozen as he reached up to her face and brushed a gentle finger under her bottom lip where a stray drop of water that had missed her mouth was running down her chin. She flinched and turned away at the unwelcome contact, feeling sick at the thought of his skin touching hers and the gentle was he could make her want to hurl.

He frowned and cocked his head to the side as if to say; 'Why did you turn away?' before using the hand that still hovered by her chin to brush a lock of hair out of her face, his podgy fingertips combing her scalp.

Gabriella shuddered. This time she couldn't shake him off.

"Stop." She said weakly, ashamed of how desperate she sounded and disappointed at her own lack of assertiveness. He didn't stop. His finger remained tangled into her hair. "Get off!" She said more forcefully. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him backwards. Unfortunately, his reflexes were quick enough for him to tighten a fist around her hair and pull her with him.

She yelped and her hands flew to her stinging head. Frank pulled his hand away looking satisfied as he noticed the clump of many long brown hairs that he'd managed to tear from Gabriella's scalp as a souvenir.

Gabriella was desperate to get away, wanting nothing but to break down and cry, but Frank had her cornered. There was no way she could get past him.

Stull clutching her head she pleaded with him. "Please… I need to get back to my lesson. Ms. Menzel will be waiting for me…."

Frank appeared to ponder her request momentarily, still eyeing the mass of hairs he had snagged with pride, before stepping aside without a word allowing her space to get past.

As she walked timidly around him, he quickly slid his hand into hers releasing the hairs he held and closing her hand around it. He winked at her and she hurried away, tears welling up in her eyes. For some reason, instead of discarding it, her hand stayed closed around the clump of hair that Frank had given her as if later she could somehow reattach it. It wasn't a big enough amount of hair for anyone to notice but it was still a fair amount and it hurt like hell.

"Say hi to your boyfriend for me, will ya?" Frank called down the hall after her. Gabriella kept walking as if she hadn't heard him. She took in a deep breath to regain her composure and then slipped back into the class room.

Troy noticed something wrong instantly. Gabriella looked as if she was about to cry, her trembling hands were closed tightly in little fists and, to top it off, her hair was all askew.

She shrank into her seat and stayed silent for the remainder of the lesson, ignoring the various concerned looks from Troy and his attempts to get her attention. When the class was over, she shot out of the room as soon as she could. No-one saw her for the rest of the day.

After school, when almost everyone had left to go home and the school was relatively empty, Troy, Chad and Taylor met on the steps by the main entrance to chat.

"Did she tell you she was going anywhere, Taylor?" Troy asked the one person who knew Gabriella better that he did himself, in the hope that he would solve Gabriella's mysterious and sudden exit. Taylor shook her head. She too was worried about her friend. She had also noticed Gabriella's change in character after she came back from getting a drink and an inkling in the back of her mind gave her a clue as to why.

"I think something must've happened." She said to Troy. He nodded but didn't seem to know what she was actually trying to say. "I mean, with Frank." She explained.

Troy's eyes widened as the thought suddenly occurred to him. "You think so?" He asked, growing increasingly worried. Taylor shrugged not wanting him to jump to conclusions.

"She probably didn't feel well." Chad contributed to ease Troy nerves, although even _he _didn't believe himself. "You know, from that dodgy soup at lunch."

Troy didn't look convinced. He was stressing. Chad knew the perfect thing to take his mind off it.

"Come on!" He said suddenly, startling both Troy and Taylor. They both felt too down to ask what he was talking about. He stood up from the step he was sitting on and grabbed Troy's arm, beginning to pull on it. "You and me. Basketball. Now." He said.

"Nah, man… I'm not in the mood." Troy protested as Chad continued to tug his arm.

"Yes. You are. Come on."

"Practice doesn't start for another half hour." Troy whined.

"And just think how pleased coach'll be when he finds we're both ready half and hour early." Chad wasn't going to let Troy worm his way out of this.

"But what about Taylor?" Troy was pulling out all the stops. "We can't just leave her here all alone."

"I'm cool with it. "Said Taylor. "I'm probably gonna go home soon anyway. Got homework to do."

Chad smiled, pleased with how his girlfriend handled things.

"Fine." Troy sighed, defeated. He was starting to warm up to the idea anyway.

"Good." Said Taylor and Chad in unison.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go home now." Said Taylor, standing up from the step she had been sitting on.

"'Kay. See you tomorrow." Chad gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Be careful." He said seriously.

"Yeah." Troy agreed. Before, it would have been ridiculous to warn her about a short journey home from school, but these days they could never be too careful. "And if you have the time could you just call Gabriella? See if she's okay?" He asked.

"Definitely." She promised before turning and leaving.

"Right!" Said Chad after she disappeared from sight. "To the hoops…."

**Taylor**

_The journey to Taylor's home was quite short. She lived relatively close to school so, instead of getting the bus, she walked. She strolled slowly with no real need to hurry, allowing her mind to wander. She was so caught up in her deep thoughts that she didn't realise she was being followed until someone came to walk beside her._

"Hey, McKessie."

As soon as she heard the voice, she knew she was in for trouble.

"Hi, Frank." She replied to be polite. She avoided eye contact with him and stared straight ahead, quickening her pace in the hope that she would get home before Frank could do anything to hurt her; as she knew he would at any given opportunity.

"How are ya? Feelin' as good as ya look?"

Taylor grimaced. What a slimy, gruesome buy. She faked a smile and said nothing.

"Here," He said as he put a hand on top of hers on the handle of her wheelie-bag. "That looks heavy. Let me take it from you."

With that, he pulled it from her grip. Taylor knew that there was no way he was just being polite. He was aup to something.

"It's alright." She insisted trying to get her bag back from him His hold on it was too strong for her but she continued to pull on the handle until he finally released it to her. She was close to running now with desperation and sheer hope that Frank was done messing with her and would leave her alone.

"Thank you." She muttered.

Frank huffed with disappointment. "Well, if you won't let me take your bag…" He began He walked behind her and snatched her bag back bitterly. "…at least let me lighten the load."

"Oh, no. It's-." She started but it was already too late.

He had opened her bag and was proceeding to empty the contents onto the concrete pavement; one item at a time. He rifled recklessly through her books and belongings and all Taylor could do was stand by watching, frozen with tears in her eyes and practically beg for him to stop.

"Please," She pleaded. "I need those." She fell to her hands and knees beside Frank who crouched by her bag seemingly oblivious to her attempts to stop him, and she started to collect from the floor all the things he had removed from her bag. Frank only grew more violent and malicious, continuing to discard Taylor's things.

His gaze fell upon a book 'Forget Me Not' which stood out among the rest with its an almost pristine, untouched air to it. He opened it. The first blank page read; 'To my lovely girlfriend Taylor, Happy Birthday. Love forever, Chad.' Frank smirked and began to flick carelessly through the pages.

"Boring…" He said as if he had been reading it. As if he could. "No wonder you're bag is so heavy. It's full of worthless junk like this." He said, drawing Taylor's attention to her most treasured possession in his hands.

"Oh, please, no." She whispered almost inaudibly. She knew what was coming. She cringed at the sound of the first page being torn out and felt physically sick when Frank didn't stop there. He continued to claw at the pages, ripping the book to shreds.

"Boring. Rubbish. Waste. Of. Paper." He said between rips.

For Taylor, this was the final straw. She would no longer allow this boy to destroy the best, most heart-felt birthday present she had ever received. Sure, it was just a book. But it signified a lot more than that. She just hoped that she was acting in time to salvage enough of it.

"Get your hands off my book!" She shrieked as she launched herself as him and scrambled for it. The element of surprise had caught Frank off guard and left the odds momentarily in Taylor's favour. That was, of course, until Frank regained his awareness and his strength gave him enough power to shove her off him. She slid back on the pavement, her hands out to break her fall becoming scratched in the process. She growled and scrambled to her feet. Her hands were stinging, maybe bleeding, and Frank still had her book. It would be safe to say that Taylor McKessie was well past seeing red.

She was now, once again, at an advantage as she stood and Frank was still crouched on the floor. She grabbed for the book again and managed to get a firm hold on it. A tug-o-war-like struggle erupted and Frank began to try and pry her fingers from the 'insignificant' object.

There was nothing else Taylor could do but scratch or kick and, since he was bigger than her and simply because he was a horrible person, she did both.

Frank yelped and sprang back like a frog in reverse. His nostrils flared as he examined his arm with four distinct scratches all the way up it while simultaneously clutching his side where Taylor had kicked him.

Taylor felt slightly smug and couldn't help but smile with victory and joy as she had her book back. Her joy, however, was short-lived as Frank stood up to his full height and she became tiny in front of his giant form. She gulped. He was huge; shaking and fuming with fury.

"You little _bitch_!" He yelled and his fat, but hard, hand came out of nowhere, slamming into Taylor's cheek and making an awful 'smack' against her skin.

Tears spilled freely from Taylor's eyes as one of her hands rose to tenderly stroke her stinging cheek. She'd never been slapped before. The side of her face felt like it was on fire. And it wasn't just the pain that caused her tears. It was the fact that Frank had actually slapped her. And for what?

"Was it worth it?" Frank asked the question that had been playing on her mind. "For that _stupid _book?!" He smacked the book out of Taylor's hands and back onto the floor, even more paged drifting from it. He sneered and left, cracking his knuckles and eyeing the reddening scratches on his arm.

Taylor stood alone with damp, tear-stained cheeks fro almost five minutes just trembling and willing herself not to wail like a baby. After some time, the adrenaline wore off and she found her self sinking to her knew and sobbing as she collected her things and stuffed them back inside her bag.

As soon as she got home, she ran up to her room and locked the door behind her. She sat in the middle of her bed, body shaking with uncontrollable sobs as she wondered if things would ever get better.

Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

**Meanwhile…**

"You gonna get ready or what?" Troy asked Chad impatiently. He had changed into his basketball kit as soon as they had arrived in the changing rooms. Chad, as he usually did, too his time and lounged around for a while.

"We've got twenty minutes." He pointed out.

"I thought you wanted to impress coach." Troy reminded him. "Isn't that why you dragged me here in the first place?"

Chad sighed. "Fine." He got up from the bench he'd been sitting on and heaved himself towards his locker. Troy smiled triumphantly, glad that he had gotten his way.

The first thing that Chad noticed when he opened his locker was not the yellow post-it note that floated out of it but the fact that, other than the note, his locker was empty. The post-it drifted unseen under the bench that Troy lay on.

Chad was shocked and very confused. He remembered bringing in his kit. It couldn't be anywhere but here. He came to the conclusion that Troy was messing with him. He must have been.

"Hey man," he said turning around to face Troy who was lounging restlessly on the wooden bench behind him. "Have you seen my kit?"

Troy shook his head. "Nope." He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Don't tell me you've forgotten it." No reply. "Again?"

Chad didn't answer. He was too deep in thought, trying hard to remember. He was sure he had packed it; he remembered not being able to find a matching pair of socks and deciding to make do with odd ones. But his kit wasn't there. Obviously he was missing something.

"…Coach won't be happy." Troy warned sitting up. Not helpful.

"You sure you haven't seen it?" Chad asked again. He had to be certain even though he could tell Troy was telling the truth and that he hadn't hidden it.

"Uh-huh." Troy grabbed the ball his head had been resting on and stood up.

"Seriously man, if you-."

"Chad! I. Do. Not. Have. Your. Kit." Troy made clear. He walked to the door that lead to the schools indoor basketball court where they practiced. "Okay?"

"'Kay." Said Chad feeling a little stupid.

"Look for it." Troy told him. "I'm warming up. I'll meet you out there in five." And with that he disappeared onto the court.

Chad's frown deepened and he sank onto the bench with his head in his hands as he thought as hard as he could; eyes squeezed shut. His mind was blank. He had no idea.

When he opened his eyes, his gaze fell immediately upon the only clue on the whereabouts of his kit. His heart sank as he realised what it meant. Between a gap in the planks of wood that made up the bench, he saw a yellow note lying on the floor beneath him.

He crawled onto his hands to retrieve the note. It read; _'Curly, I've never been great at riddles so let me just tell you. Your kit is in a toilet. Have fun getting it out.'_

Chad hoped to god that it wasn't true. He hoped that Frank, with his unusual and twisted ways, was winding him up. He checked every toilet in the changing rooms and found that, unfortunately, Frank was telling the truth.

His entire basketball kit; trainers and all, were soaking in toilet water, stuffed in a now overflowing toilet. Chad's jaw dropped. He'd know that Frank had issues but this…. This was some messed up-

The sound of a door opening outside the room broke him from his thoughts of anguish and disgust. He checked the clock on the wall. It was almost 4. Time for basketball practice to begin. The entire team was probably arriving. There was no way he could explain this to them. Somehow; _'I slipped and dropped my kit into a toilet.' _didn't sound very believable.

His hand hovered hesitantly over the toiled as he wondered whether or not to take the plunge. Was he really willing to stick his hand in a toilet? Surely, if he did, it would mean Frank had won. The growing volume of the people arriving outside made his decision for him and before he knew it his hand was in the rancid, dirty water. After he had pulled each item of dripping clothing out and had managed to cover, not only his arms, but his entire front in water, he was now faced with the problem of transporting it all home _and _getting out unnoticed.

This was going to be a tough one.

**Troy**

_After waiting for what felt like more than an hour for Chad to get changed, Troy was seriously considering ditching practice and going to check on Gabriella. She was all he could think about. There was no way he'd be able to focus on basketball with her dominating his mind._

He was almost at the exit when he heard the main doors to the court opening and the squeak of several trainers entering the floor. There was an eruption of noise; talking and laughter, as the team poured in. Troy turned from the exit to see a sea of boys in red Wild Cat uniforms running out of the locker room, all hyped up and ready for practice.

Troy joined them for a warm up, knowing that he couldn't leave now. He also noticed that Chad was absent from the team. _Probably couldn't find his kit, _Troy thought but then wondered why Chad couldn't have come in and told him instead of keeping him waiting. At exactly 4.00, coach Bolton entered. He started the boys on a simple warm up, lining them up side by side to jog gently on the spot. He looked along the row of boys and noticed, instantly, the absence of wild unruly hair that usually stood out among the rest.

"Where's Danforth?" He asked, his question directed at the whole team. They stayed silent and avoided eye-contact. "Don't make me ask again." He warned.

Jason cleared his throat nervously. "I… I, uh… I think I saw Chad running out of here about five minutes ago." He admitted but then felt guilty for telling on his friend and tried to clear Chad's name. "But, I mean, it might not have been him." He added quickly, stammering. "It was dark and he- he was all… wet…" There were a few suppressed sniggers among the group, quickly silenced by the look on Coach Bolton's face.

"He was… _wet?" _He asked.

In the end, they didn't bother trying to figure out why Chad had been running around soaked in water. They were there to play basketball after all, not solve mysteries..

When Troy got home, he called Gabriella several times with no answer, next he tried Chad's phone with the same outcome and even Taylor's went straight to voicemail.

He slept restlessly that night. He knew that something was up. He knew there was more grief to come.

* * *

**A/N: **A long wait, I'm sorry. But the wait was rewarded with a long (by my standards) chapter. Now, I'd just like to take the time to thank people who have reviewed so far. Sorry I can't get back to you all personally.

_**chaylorfan** - I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for your info on study hall. I think I'll just stick to what I know. ;D_

_**bluecasey95** - I try to update as quickly as I can, even if it doesn't seem like it. I hope you continue to read and like what you're reading._

_**Idina is my Elphie** - Thanks a lot for the information you gave me. Very helpful. Thanks for your review. Did you see the little hint of Idina in this chapter?_

_**HSMGossipGirlQueen **- Frank's a meanie and he's gonna get a lot worse so watch out. I'm really happy you're liking it!_

_**kixtoby** - I hope this fic is living up to your expectations. You said it looked like it would be good and hopefully it is._

_**vanessazaclover16** - Glad you liked the trailer. Hope you're enjoying the rest._

(Soz if I forgot anyone)

****

**_I officially love you all. _**

**_xX M Xx_**


	6. 5

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**

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**5. **

_The next morning, after a night of insomnia, Gabriella almost had to literally drag herself out of bed. All she wanted was to lie there all day and pretend that nothing else existed. She never wanted to go to school again. She wasn't sure if she could face Troy or Taylor. She knew they knew something was going on. Her phone read fifteen missed calls. All of them from Troy. _

She got ready in autopilot, showering and having breakfast in her usual routine with no expression on her face and her mind blank. She avoided eye contact with her mother who could read her like a book if she wanted to. It was when Gabriella got to her front door that she couldn't block out the memories of the previous days ordeal any longer. They flooded back, almost taking her breath away. Her head, the spot that the hair had been pulled on, tingled a little as an almost constant reminder, aware of what she was thinking.

"Gabi, why haven't you left yet?" Her mothers' voice came from behind her, breaking her from her daydream. "You're going to miss the bus." Gabriella didn't move. "Go." Ordered her mother. "Now!"

Gabriella did as she was told.

_Taylor__ awoke with a start. She'd been having a nightmare that had been repeating itself all night long. The nightmare relived the events of the previous day, when Frank had hit her, but instead of a hand smacking her cheek, Frank was armed with a knife. And instead of aiming for her face, the blade was speeding towards her throat. _

_She awoke, every time, just as the blade made contact with her skin. _

She sat up in bed, her chest rising and falling heavily with her rapid breaths. She looked at her clock and sprang out of bed, hurrying to get ready as the red numbers flashed 08:57.

She was late. For the first time ever. In her haste, she left her homework assignment, half of her books, her lunch money and her keys.

She ran out the door and all the way to school.

_Chad__ spent the night trying to straighten out his thoughts. His mind was buzzing with fury, sadness, confusion, embarrassment, guilt and fear. Things were getting worse and it was clear that they were going to continue to do so. His friends were suffering. Taylor's grades were slipping, the things she valued most. Troy could hardly focus anymore. And Gabriella always seemed so distant and unlike herself. _

_It was all because of Frank. _

_No, it was all because of Chad. He'd done this. He'd provoked the most feared boy in school. He'd brought this on himself. _

Chad wondered how he would explain his disappearance to Troy. He knew he wouldn't be happy.

He quickly ate a slice of toast and left for school. He arrived earlier than usual and went straight to his locker, anticipating what today's bitter note would read.

He was surprised to find, not a yellow piece of paper, but a white folded one. He supposed Frank must have run out of post-its.

When he unfolded it, he didn't find Franks almost illegible handwriting but instead, his own. He could have sworn his heart stopped when he realised what it was.

'To my lovely girlfriend Taylor, Happy Birthday. Love forever, Chad.'

_Troy__ got out of bed early. He was hoping to catch Gabriella on her way to school as she was early every day and he desperately needed to talk to her; to find out why she had left school early. _

Unknowingly, his mother was pleased to see her son so eager to get to school for the first time ever. His dad was surprised to find his son declining the offer of a lift to school. He skipped breakfast and rushed around in an almost frantic state.

Troy was acting unlike his usual self and his parents noticed the changed. He avoided their concerned questions about if he was feeling well or if something was going on. He gave his mum a kiss on the cheek and briskly left his house. He sprinted to the end of his road and waited to see if Gabriella was coming.

_The school bell rang to start registration and Cad was surprised to find that he was the only one of his friends that was present. He watched the door, desperate to see Taylor walk through it He needed to know she was okay. _

He knew that Frank hand put the page of the book he had given Taylor in his locker. That meant that he must have taken the book from her Chad knew for a fact that Taylor treasured the book and always kept it on her person so Frank had to have physically taken it from her. Frank wasn't the type to control his anger when people fought back.

The door opened to the classroom and Chad crossed his fingers. It wasn't Taylor. Gabriela entered. Chad was glad she was back after yesterday's vanishing act but was disappointed and growing increasingly concerned about Taylor's whereabouts. She was never late. He acknowledged Gabriella with a slight nod and she smiled sheepishly and took her seat in the desk beside Chad's.

Ms. Darbus; who was registering the class, looked unimpressed at Gabriella's late arrival but continued to call out the names on the register.

"Hey," Chad whispered to Gabriella, leaning slightly towards her. "Where were you yesterday afternoon? What happened? You disappearing like that… we were worried." He admitted.

"I wasn't feeling well." She lied. Chad saw right through it and raised an eyebrow.

Gabriella sighed. Chad had a way of getting anything he wanted. If he wanted to know the truth, he would eventually find it out. Gabriella decided that it was better for him to hear it from her than find out any other way. She looked around the classroom for Troy, not wanting him to hear and only now noticing his absence and Taylor's as well.

Her brow creased. "Where are-?" She began but Chad cut her off.

"I don't know." He said frowning. "Weird isn't it…. But don't change the subject. What happened yesterday?" He asked again, then added; "The truth."

"Okay," Gabriella gave in. "But you have to promise not to tell Troy, okay?"

Now, Chad was worried. Gabriella hated keeping secrets. This had to be something big. He nodded, though didn't like the thought of hiding things from his best friend.

"Yesterday," Gabriella began, dreading having to relive the past days events. "When I went to get a drink, Frank cornered me."

Chad looked away He couldn't look her in the eye as she told him about her suffering because inside he felt mostly to blame for it.

"He… stroked my face…." Gabriella's hushed voice quivered. Her hand rose and gently touched the spot on her chin where Frank had touched her. "And then, it's like he snapped. He grabbed me. Grabbed my hair. And he pulled it so hard… I…. I thought he was going to rip it all out!" She noticed her voice had risen enough to catch the attention of some fellow classmates. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and continued.

"He pulled out a whole clump of hair and then he put it in my hand for me to keep. Like some kind of twisted gift or something." She pursed her lips, feeling sick.

"Oh Gabriella." Chad soothed her, reaching over and stroking her back supportively. This earned him a few odd glances from fellow students but he ignored them and continued to comfort his friend. "That's awful. I'm… I am so sorry." He admitted, feeling guilty for angering on that first day back. Maybe if he had kept his mouth shut, none of this would be happening.

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed. She straightened her back and tried to put on a brave face. "It's over now though. Maybe he'll leave me alone for a while…" She almost laughed at her own naivety and then frowned as something occurred to her. "Wait… You're sorry? For what?"

Chad didn't know what to say. Luckily, the door opened, catching Gabriella's attention and meaning he wouldn't have to say anything at all.

He held his breath. It had to be Taylor.

It wasn't. Troy walked into the room quickly, looking flustered and trying to remain unseen by Darbus. She saw him but, as she had done with Gabriella, said nothing. They were usually reliable students. One late arrival wouldn't hurt.

Troy sat down in his seat in front of Chad and turned instantly to Gabriella.

"What happened to you yesterday?" He asked; the same question she had just finished answering to Chad, an answer she was dreading having to go through again. Chad had noticed how tough it had been for her to tell him the story. He knew she wasn't ready to go through telling it all over again. Not yet. He spoke up before she had a chance to say anything.

"She was sick." He said. Gabriella nodded, grateful for his help and ability to lie flawlessly. "I told you, man. Dodgy soup." He rubbed his stomach and nodded for emphasis.

"Are you feeling better now?" Troy asked sympathetically. He'd fallen for it. Thank God for Chad. Troy would have seen through one of Gabriella's lies right away.

"I feel fine." Gabriella said. Troy smiled at her and the glimmer in his energetic blue eyes was enough to lift her spirits; even if only a little.

" Troy." Chad said, interrupting the couple's silent moment. Troy had lost count of how many times Chad had done that.

"Yeah, man?" Troy didn't take his eyes off Gabriella. He was almost mesmerized by her perfection.

"You wouldn't happen to have seen Taylor, would you?"

Troy frowned. _Where _was_ Taylor? _He shook his head and Chad's heart sank.

"No, sorry dude, I haven't. She didn't answer her phone last night either." Troy remembered.

"What were you calling Taylor for last night?" Gabriella asked. The friends had grown close over the past year or so but Taylor and Troy weren't really the_ best_ of friends, nor was Gabriella too close to Chad. But she _was_ starting to see a new and more sensitive side to him.

"To see if she'd called you." Troy answered. "She said she'd do it as soon as she got home. She _did _call you. Didn't she?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Nope."

"She promised." Chad said quietly. Taylor rarely broke promises.

"What is going on with you guys?" Troy asked suddenly. Chad and Gabriella watched him, confused. "Ya'll keep disappearing! First Gabriella," Gabriella looked away. "Then you, Chad, before basketball and now Taylor!" Troy sighed with exasperation. "Come to think of it, Chad… Where _did _you go before basketball?" Chad shifted uncomfortably. "Jason said he saw you…. Said you were wet?"

Chad struggled to come up with an excuse. "I… um…" He stammered.

"You three!" Ms. Darbus' voice came from the front of the class. Troy, Chad and Gabriella looked up at her. "Yes, you. I've had enough of this. First, you come in late…."

"Actually, I came on tim-." Chad attempted to say but didn't seem to be heard.

"And then, you talk all the way through registration! You're just asking for a detention, aren't you."

They muttered unenthusiastic apologies and kept their heads down for the remainder of the register. In Troy's mind, clues started to add up, puzzle pieces started to fit together and one clear answer for the disappearances and strange behaviour of his friends became evident.

It had to be.

Frank.

_Taylor arrived half way through first period, managing to avoid a detention with a lame excuse about her grandmother's car breaking down. No-one got a chance to speak to her during the double lesson so when break came, she was bombarded with questions. _

"What's going on, Tay?"

"Where've you been?"

"Hmm?" She asked, trying to play it off as if she hadn't just been late for the first time in history.

"You're late." Chad told her, as if she didn't know. "You're _never _late!" He emphasized.

"Yeah," She shrugged. "My alarm didn't go off."

"You didn't call Gabriella last night." Troy said. Taylor's mouth formed a perfect 'o' as she remembered her un-kept promise. "You said you would."

"I'm so sorry, I-." Taylor began.

"And you didn't hand in your geography assignment." Gabriella interrupted. "The one we've had about three weeks to do."

"Alright, alright. Calm down. Back off!" Taylor said, raising her hands defensively as if they would protect her from the accusations flying her way. She was starting to feel claustrophobic with her friends crowded around her, assaulting her with question after question.

"What happened to your hands?" Chad gasped, noticing the plasters wrapped around every one of her fingers on both of her raised hands and the nasty scratches across her palms. The truth was that she'd cut them on the pavement during her scuffle with Frank the day before but, for obvious reasons, shed idnt want her friends to know about that.

She pulled her hands back behind her. "Nothing." She lied. "I fell."

Gabriella was about to ask how when Chad pulled a crumpled piece of paper form his pocket.

"I found this in my locker this morning." He handed it to her and her breath caught in her throat. T was one of the pages from 'Forget Me Not'. "Do you have any idea how it got there?"

Chad's anger was rising. He was pretty sure that Frank had done this. He just needed confirmation from Taylor and then he was going to give Frank a lot more than just a piece of his mind.

"It was Frank wasn't it?" The silence he got in reply served as a 'yes'. "And your hands," Chad said, taking one of Taylor's hands in his own and inspecting it gently and tenderly. "Did he do this too?"

"You can tell us, Taylor." encouraged Gabriella.

"No." Taylor said unexpectedly. "No, don't be silly." She acted as if they were talking nonsense. "Of course he didn't do this He wouldn't." Lie. "Like I said, I fell." Lie. "I dropped all my books. The page must've fallen out and, you know, how many girls called Taylor have boyfriends called Chad because both our names are on it. Someone must have found it." Lie after lie. She wondered how many more she could get away with. She didn't even know if anyone was believing a word she said. She forced a smile. "You guys…. You're so melodramatic. Always jumping to the most ludicrous conclusions…"

Gabriella smiled, convinced and Troy chuckled believing every word. Chad eyed her sceptically but, confident that she wouldn't lie to him, smiled uneasily.

"Yeah," he said. "Silly us."

_Things would have gone smoothly that day if Troy hadn't gone to his locker at the end of lunch. If he hadn't needed to get his maths book so that Chad could copy his homework, he never would have spotted Frank slipping something into Chad's locker. _

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking up to Frank who looked shocked that he'd been caught. Troy stared him down with a new found confidence. He had decided not to let one boy make going to school even more of a misery and was determined to make sure that Frank left him and his friends alone.

Frank said nothing.

"What was that?" Troy continued, pointing at Chad's locker. "I just saw you. You put something in Chad's locker. I saw." He said, getting more and more confrontational.

"You don't know what you're talking about blue-eyes." Frank told him patronisingly, regaining his voice and, with it, his attitude.

"Yes I-." Troy narrowed his eyes and scowled. Then he decided to make the most of the situation he was in by making it clear to Frank that he was to go nowhere near his friends ever again. "You said you'd leave my friends alone."

Frank sighed and rolled his eyes, acting bored. "Not again…." He checked his watch for emphasis.

"Yeah, again." Troy declared confidently. "And I'm gonna keep bringing it up until you do as I say."

Now, even Troy knew, straight after the words had come out of his mouth, that maybe he'd gotten a little _too _confident and said a bit too much. It was clear that Frank agreed. His calm and cocky sarcastic exterior fizzled out and Troy found himself facing Frank in the state that he feared the most; red with anger.

"Do you really think that'll help?" He said in an almost inaudible whisper, his voice trembling with bottled fury.

Troy thought I best to change the subject and went back to his initial point. "What were you putting in Chad's locker?" He asked again.

The red drained from Frank's face and a sly smile spread across his gruesome features. "You mean Curly hasn't told you?" He asked, referring to Chad and the notes. "And I thought y'all were best buds." Frank chuckled to himself and then his grin grew as another thought occurred to him. "So, I'm guessing your girl; Curvy Senorita, hasn't told you about yesterday either…" Troy had known something had happened. He could tell Gabriella hadn't been ill the day before. She had gone home for another reason. "And not even Curly's Girly; the feisty one, told you about the fun we had together. I mean, what, d'ya think she got those scratches from studying too hard?"

"What did you do?" Were the only words Troy could manage with the anger burning inside him.

The bell rang; telling Troy he was late for English, but he didn't move. He had to know what Frank gad done to his friends. He had to know what was so bad that they thought they couldn't confide in him.

"Wouldn't _you _love to know..." Frank said suggestively, obviously enjoying himself.

"Tell me." Troy ordered. He stepped closer, slightly intimidating Frank who also seemed to be relishing in Troy's anger and smiled evilly.

"The crazy girl; McKessie, she wouldn't let me carry her books. I was just being polite. She deserved the slap I gave her."

Troy's breath caught in his throat. Frank had physically hurt Taylor. If Chad fond out….

"And your girl?" Frank continued. He raised his eyebrows, clearly he was having fun. He knew he had Troy right where he wanted him. "I ran my hand through that soft, brown hair of hers" he whispered softly and slowly to keep Troy in suspense. "And I ripped a whole clump of it clean out."

At first, Troy didn't know if Frank was serious. Surely, if it were true, Gabriella would have told him. But it did explain her disappearance and why she was acting so weird.

Frank laughed distantly as if reminiscing. "The look on her face as she tried not to cry…."

Unable to control his raging anger, Troy lashed out at Frank. His clenched fist hit Frank square in the jaw.

Frank staggered backwards, the surprise and pain initially etched on his face quickly evolving into pure fury. Troy, too busy nursing his throbbing knuckles, didn't notice Frank's reddening face. The first punch he received took him completely by surprise. Striking him hard in the gut, it winded him and left him gasping for air. Frank showed no mercy as he assaulted Troy with another forceful punch, this one higher on his torso, at least bruising his ribs. The third punch sent Troy falling to the ground. He was unable to defend himself as, not only punches- but now kicks, rained down upon him.

Frank took care not to bruise Troy's face so that no-one would even know he was hurt. When he had worn himself out, he crouched beside Troy's trembling, curled form and grabbed Troy's chin; turning his head to face him.

"You're pathetic." He spat simply, then pushed Troy head back onto the floor. He stood up and sniffed, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. He looked around the empty corridor and checked his watch.

"I'm gonna leave now." He told Troy who was barely listening. He was finding it hard enough to bear through the pain and just stay conscious. "And when I go," he continued. "You'd better get your sorry ass up and get the hell out of here before someone finds you." He sneered. "You've got ten minutes. If I find out that you told someone about this, or you stayed lying here in the pitiful state you're in, I'll finish what I started today and I'll go after your friends too."

The mention of his friends got Troy's attention but he could hardly concentrate with his throbbing headache. His midsection felt as if it had been run over by a truck. He ached all over, all his limbs, bones, muscles, joints and he couldn't stop his body from shaking. Even though he lay still, his head was spinning and his eyes could not focus. He'd never felt this bad before. Yet still, ignoring the agony, when Frank left hiM, Troy forced himself to his feet; clinging to the lockers beside him for support.

It was a long, tedious, painful walk home. Neither of his parents were home so Troy dragged himself upstairs and into bed where he let his aching body rest and got some much needed sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey hey. Soz it took a while. It's the holidays now so I'll probably be more frequent with updates since sniffs I'm not going anywhere.

**_Merry Christmas Bitches_**

****

**_xX M Xx_**


	7. 6

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**

* * *

6.**

Troy couldn't bring himself to get out of bed the next morning. In some ways, he was in more pain than he had been in the day before; it wasn't as sharp or evident, but was replaced by a dull ache that crept up on him every time he moved and made every action agony. His entire body was sensitive to the slightest touch. He felt like one giant bruise.

His mother had been worried when she had arrived home from grocery shopping the day before to find her usually active son, not on their outdoor basketball court, but lying in his bed sleeping restlessly. His brow was furrowed even in sleep and he mumbled incoherently every once in a while. The next morning, when he woke up looking pale and sickly; covered in a thick sheen of sweat, she insisted he stay home from school. It was clear that he was in no condition to leave his bed. Troy complied, agreeing completely.

When she came at noon to check on him and ask if he wanted any lunch, she was disappointed to find that the light breakfast she had made him had gone untouched. Troy lay in bed, staring straight up at the ceiling as he had been all day.

"How are you feeling, honey?" She asked, sitting on the edge of his bed and feeling his forehead with the back of her hand.

"Better." He said truthfully. The days rest was certainly helping. Even though he still felt rough, he'd probably be able to go back to school on Monday. With it being Friday, he was only missing one day in school.

"Didn't you want your breakfast?"

"No." He stated bluntly. He'd lost his appetite the moment he had woken up and the image of Frank had appeared in his head.

"Troy, baby," Said his mother with concern. "Is something going on?... Because you know you can tell me, don't you? Even if you don't want me to do anything about it. Sometimes it's just nice to talk about things."

Tory looked away from the ceiling for the first time since waking and looked at his mother. "What do you mean, mum?" He asked, knowing _exactly _what she meant. Mother's instinct. She knew something was wrong.

She sighed and scooted closer on the bed, resting a hand on Troy's knee. "I've noticed you've been a bit miserable since the start of school. Sometimes, you even seem like… a different person." Troy hadn't realised his home life had been affected so much. "Is it Gabriella? Did you two fight again?"

No, we're fine."

"What about Chad? He hasn't visited in a while…." She prompted.

"No, mum." Said Troy. "It's not them. It's… it's…" Troy considered telling her. Then, he shook the thought from his mind as he remembered the promise he had made to his friends that he wouldn't ever tell anyone. His mother wouldn't understand anyway. She'd make a huge deal out of it and probably end up making things worse. "It's nothing." He sighed.

She didn't look convinced.

The grandfather clock downstairs chimed and her eyes widened as she checked her watch to verify the time. "Oh, gosh! Look at the time." She got up quickly. "I told Joanna I'd be at her house half an hour ago. Will you be alright by yourself?"

Troy nodded, looking forward to some time alone. Time to think.

"Alright, I'll see you later. Won't be long. Call if you need anything…" Troy waited until he heard the front door slam shut before breathing a sigh of relief.

It felt good to be alone; able to think without being disturbed. In the process of thinking, Troy came to a drastic conclusion about how he would protect himself and his friends from future attacks.

_At quarter to four, there came a knock on Troy's front door. He managed to clamber out of bed, feeling a lot better though still a little sore, and took his time down the stairs. Guessing it was just his mum back from Joanne's it came as a pleasant surprise to see his three best friends standing in the doorway._

_He grinned as the sight of their friendly faces and the smiled back with what seemed to be relief._

"Hey!" They all said in unison. Troy stepped back to allow them into his home. Once inside, Gabriella threw her arms around Troy, clearly glad to see that he was okay. He gasped as Gabriella aggravated some of his bruises, causing the almost forgotten pain to flare up again. She sprang back instantly, unsure of what she'd done to hurt him but already feeling guilty for it.

"What's wrong Troy?" She asked with concern as he bit down on his lip, hard, to fight back against the jolts of pain that wracked his body.

"You okay, dude?" Chad asked, also noticing his friend's discomfort.

"Why weren't you at school?" Taylor added.

Troy decided that the best thing to do would be to tell them, but he was aching again and finding hard to focus on anything but his throbbing bruises, so he led them silently to his room where he lay back in his bed and allowed his friends to make themselves comfortable. Chad sat in a soft armchair in the corner with Taylor on his lap and Gabriella sat timidly on the end of Troy's bed, afraid that she'd hurt him again.

"So tell us, man," Chad said when they had settled. "What's going on? What's all this about?" He motioned the bed and the untouched food beside it. "I mean, what are you, _ill_?"

Troy looked at Gabriella, wondering how she'd take the news he was about to deliver.

"Not ill." He said quietly. Taylor and Chad almost had to lean closer to hear him. "Just… hurt."

Gabriella tensed up. Her mouth trembled.

"I spoke to Frank." Troy continued.

"Damn man," Said Chad. He knew what was coming. "We said we'd leave him, remember?"

Troy ignored him and focused on Gabriella. "He told me he'd ripped out some of your hair." She nodded and looked at the floor with shame. "And he said he'd…" Taylor's eyes were wide; begging him not to mention what had happened with her and Frank. She hadn't told Chad yet and didn't want him to find out about it like this. Troy understood. "He said he'd done other stuff…. I don't know what happened." Troy admitted. "I lost my temper and punched him."

Gabriella's gaze shot up form the floor and focused on Troy. "You what?!" She asked with her voice frantic with worry.

"I punched him… in the jaw." Troy grimaced at the memory. "And, as you can imagine, that didn't go down to well with Frank. He beat me up in the hallway and… left me there. He said if I told he'd hurt you."

Gabriella's hand rose slowly to her mouth; agape with horror. Her eyes filled with tears as the thought of the pain, isolation and helplessness Troy must have endured. The images in her mind grew more horrific as she imagined Troy lying defenceless to the savage beating he received, until she could take no more.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed before running from the room.

"Gabriella!" Troy yelled as he attempted to get out of bed and follow her.

""No, Troy." Taylor's voice stopped him. "I'll go." She offered, disappearing after Gabriella.

There was a moment of silence in the room, where only Troy and Chad remained.

"This is bad, man." Chad said finally from the armchair.

"I know." Troy was still watching the door Gabriella had just fled through.

"He's getting worse." Chad stated the obvious. He looked at the floor. "I'm scared, Troy."

Troy looked away from the door as his ashamed and embarrassed friend.

"Not just for myself," Chad continued, his gaze still fixated on the ground. "I'm scared for Taylor, Gabriella… you. I'm scared he'll hurt one of us one day, badly." He paused to glance at Troy who was looking back with empathy and understanding. "If something happened to Taylor, Troy; If I wasn't there to defend her one day and she got hurt… I would never forgive myself."

"I know." Troy said again. He could see what his friend was feeling well enough. Chad had just about spoken every word that had been on Troy's mind all day. "But what can we do? He's bigger… stronger. I… I was thinking, maybe- you know; just for protection…" Troy's hand slipped under his pillow. When it re-emerged it was holding a shiny but unrecognisable object. He tossed it to Chad. "Be careful." he said as Chad inspected it.

At the push of a small button on the side, a sharp, short blade unfolded from the object. A knife.

"You wanna take this to school?" Chad asked, unsure if that was what his friend was suggesting. It was so unliike Troy to turn to violence.

"I wouldn't use it," Troy insisted quickly. "Just in case…"

Chad frowned. "I don't know… I don't like this, Troy. Bringing a dangerous weapon into the mix will just cause unnecessary drama."

"How else do you suggest we take care of this, 'cos I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas!" Troy snapped but, upon seeing the hurt expression on Chad's face, quickly apologised. "I'm sorry, dude. It's just… you don't know how it feels to lie there, getting punch after punch, kick after kick, and knowing that there's absolutely nothing you can do about it."

"I understand Troy, but-."

"I felt like such a failure. Like a sad excuse for a human being. How pathetic must I see… I threw one munch!" He declared with dismay. "If I can't even protect myself, what happens when Gabriella needs protecting?"

"But, a knife Troy?" Said Chad. "Isn't that a little… risky?"

Troy pursed his lips. "If you knew what he did to Taylor, you wouldn't be asking that question. If you knew, you'd have sneaked into your kitchen and found a knife like me or even that gun you know your dad used to keep under the bed."

Chad flinched slightly at the mention of his father; who had died almost six years earlier. Then he focused on the first thing Troy had said. "What did he do to Tay?" He asked as he realised Tayolr _had _lied to him. But why?

"He hit her, man. And he gave her those scratches on her hands. And, to top it all off, the sicko was boasting about it. He enjoyed it. He was proud!" Troy told Chad.

Chad breathed deep to control his anger and clutched the armrests of the chair hard enough to leave deep nail marks in the leather.

"How do you know?" He said; fire in his eyes.

"He told me himself."

Chad appeared to think for a moment, clearing his thoughts and trying to make some sense of the information.

He threw the knife back to Troy.

"Just in case." He agreed finally.

---------------------------------------

"Gabriella! Wait!" Taylor called breathlessly after her fleeing friend. Gabriella ran quickly down the stairs, threw the front door open and bolted out. She was desperate to get away and be alone; she needed to think. But in her haste she stumbled over a loose paving stone in the path through Troy's front garden and fell.

She made an almost instant impact with the floor, luckily managing to land on the grass which cushioned what could have been a very painful fall. She held in a silent sob of anguish and embarrassment.

Within seconds, a breathless Taylor appeared at her sighed. "Oh… my god… Gabi," she said between gulps of air. "You okay?" She held out a hand to help her friend up.

Gabriella looked at Taylor's outstretched hand; a few scratches still remaining on her fingers from her run-in with Frank, and her face crumpled as she burst into tears; unable to hold in the flood of emotions she had bottled up any longer.

"No," She said, staying sat in a messy heap on the grass. "No, I'm not okay."

Taylor, with her breathing now under control retracted her hand and, surprising Gabriella, sat on the grass beside her. She wrapped her arms around Gabriella and allowed her to cry on her shoulder knowing that, if she wanted to talk, she would when she was ready.

When she _was _ready, and it didn't take long, Gabriella began to speak again. "It's just… why is this happening, Tay?" She asked, sniffing. "I mean, what happened to Troy…" She sat upright, shaking herself from Taylor's' hold. "He took all that to protect me, to defend me." She continued. "And what if he'd been seriously hurt? Because we all know it's gonna happen. We _know _this is going to end badly."

Taylor bowed her head, agreeing but denying at the same time.

"There's nothing we can do." Taylor said simply. It was sad but true.

"No," Gabriella argued. "You're wrong. We could tell someone."

"No, Gabriella…"

"Why not?!" Gabriella snapped. "God! You guys…. You act like this is just gonna go away. This madness wont end until Frank ends it, and we know it's not going to be a happy ending for us."

"Gabi… calm down…"

This only made Gabriella more worked up. She climbed to her feet and walked a few steps away from Taylor. "No. I've had enough." She stated. Taylor listened; worrying her friend was going too far. "If we'd told Matsui when I'd said, none of this would have happened. Troy wouldn't have…. Don't you get it? We tell, Franks gets excluded and we never see him again.

"It doesn't work like that." Taylor said. Gabriella threw her hands up with defeat. She was done trying to reason with her friend; the one person she thought was smart enough to agree with her and know he right thing to do. She walked to Troy's front gate that lead onto the street.

"It _does _work like that." She said coldly. "It will.."

She walked through the gate and left toward her home and, this time, Taylor let her go. There was no point in arguing further with the best friend she had. Taylor looked up at the sky; looking for guidance, an answer, _what should she do? _She was brought back down to earth by the sound of the gate reopening.

"Taylor?" Said Mrs. Bolton walking towards her and looking confused.

Taylor hurried to her feet, brushing her hands on her jeans to remove the dirt. "Mrs. Bolton." She greeted politely.

"What's going on?"

"We came to see Troy." She explained. "he wasn't in school today, we were… concerned."

Mrs. Bolton gave Taylor a look that clearly said; '_I realise that, but why are you on my front lawn?'_

"Oh, right…" Taylor said to her unspoken question."Troy and Chad started talking about basketball and stuff. I said I'd meet Chad out here but I guess he forgot." She shrugged, glad she'd come up with a believable lie.

"I just saw Gabriella running down the road. Is she-?"

"She just remembered she…" _Think, Taylor, think! _"She left her hair-straighteners on at home." Taylor said quickly.

Thankfully, Chad emerged from the house before any more could be said.

"There he is!" Taylor said cheerily. "Come on Chad, we'd better go." Chad looked at her as if she was mad. She grabbed his arm and dragged him outside the gate.

"Bye Mrs. Bolton." Taylor called over her shoulder. Chad stumbled clumsily behind her, almost unable to keep up with her.

"Was nice to see you Mrs. B!" Chad added. He and Taylor made their ways home with Mrs. Bolton staring after them, completely perplexed.**

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**

**A/N: **So, it turns out- surprise surprise- I _am _in fact going away for the hols. Not far but I wont be able to update for i don't know how long so I present to you another chapter to help with the wait.

**_Happy Boxing Day_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	8. 7

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**7. **

_On Monday, things were back to normal. Troy returned to school and Gabriella had calmed down; though still seemed a little tense. Frank was nowhere to be seen and the day looked like it was going to be drama-free._

During study hall, Gabriella brought up the subject that had been bugging her all weekend.

"We need to tell a teacher." She said, instantly silencing Troy and Chad who had been engrossed in a sports-related conversation.

"We've been over this, Gabriella." Taylor shook her head.

"We have to!" She insisted, her friends having none of it. "We can't let this happen again. Taylor," Gabriella grasped Taylor's arm almost frantically. "If it had been Chad, not Troy, who had been hurt, wouldn't you agree with me?"

Taylor thought. "Maybe…. I don't know." She said unsurely. "But it doesn't matter. We can't tell."

"We _have _to!" Gabriella exclaimed. "You act like he rules the school. Once we tell, he can never hurt us again. What the hell is wrong with you guys?!"

"Listen to me Gabriella," Chad said sternly. This got her attention. He'd never looked so serious. "We are not going to tell anyone what is going on with Frank." He stated. "Not our parents, our teachers or anyone else. Do you understand?"

"Alright, Chad. Calm down." Troy said giving his friend a warning stare for being so harsh with Gabriella. He was shocked when, out of nowhere, Frank appeared beside him, pulled up a chair and joined them at the table.

All four desperately wanted to leave, hoping he hadn't heard any of their conversation and wondering what he was doing at their table. Surely he wasn't going to do anything to them in plain sight. The entire room was full of students. Witnesses. Something in Frank's eyes told them not to leave the table. So they stayed.

"No, don't calm down Curly." He said to Chad. The friends stayed in silence. Frank_ had_ heard their conversation. "You are very right." He patted Chad hard on the back. Chad flinched. "The rest of you should listen to this one. He knows what's right."

Gabriella, Taylor, Troy and Chad all listened uncomfortably. Frank beckoned them all forward, leaning across the table to be closer to them. Then he whispered almost inaudibly;

"If any of you dare to tell anyone; I will kill you." He stayed silent for a moment allowing his words to sink in, then grinned and stood up. The gang watched him, what he had said digging deeper into their brains.

"See you later guys." Frank said kindly, loud enough for people to hear. He snatched a book from a reading pupil and slouched in a nearby chair pretending to read it.

The warning only reinforced each of the four individual's strong beliefs. Troy, Chad and Taylor now knew for sure that telling anyone was well off the agenda. Gabriella was now certain that telling a teacher would be the only way to stop this. Frank had threatened to _kill _them. That couldn't go ignored.

At the soonest possible moment, Gabriella visited the principal; Mr. Matsui, and did something she had promised she wouldn't. Something that would change everything. Just not in the way she had hoped.

Gabriella told on Frank.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

_The repercussions were almost immediate. Frank was called into the principal's office before noon. No-one but Gabriella knew why. She was almost smiling as she imagined all the punishments Frank would get and how Chad, Taylor and Troy would have to eat their words when it turned out she had been right all along._

_And then, just fifteen minutes after being called away, Frank appeared again. He didn't re-enter the class room but Gabriella saw him through the window of the door roaming the hallway aimlessly. He looked irritated and angry. But, he did _not _look like someone who had just been excluded, if that had been the case and he _had _been excluded, he wouldn't even be there. He'd be on his way home. _

_Gabriella knew she'd messed up. Big time._

There must have been some mistake. She'd told Matsui everything. _Everything. _It wasn't as if she was known to lie. He must have believed her. So why the hell was Frank still there? What he'd done was inexcusable. No matter how you spun it, there was no way he could have gotten away with it. And then she remembered Taylor's words from months before;

'_He's manipulative. He can make teachers believe what ever he wants them to.'_

At the time, Gabriella had thought it to be an exaggeration. Now though, she wasn't so sure. She spent the entire remainder of the lesson fretting, knowing that things were going to get a lot worse. Frank had threatened to kill them if they told. She had done just that and, although she doubted he would go that far, she still feared for her safety and that of her friends.

She was desperate to know what had gone on between the principal and Frank. Could he really have weaselled his way out of this?

**Frank's POV**

The drama teacher told me I was needed in Matsui's office immediately. From the look in her eyes; the one of doubt and scrutiny, I could tell straight away that one of those four idiots had told on me. As if I hadn't just warned them not to. I knew it had to have been one of the girls; Blue-eyes would never dare to cross me after his beating on Friday and the curly-haired one was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. So it was definitely one of the girls. I had a pretty good idea which one too.

On my way to Matsui's office, I was already coming up with a plan. How I'd get my own back. You'd expect me to be coming up with an excuse, explanation or lie to get Matsui off my back but luckily, I didn't need to. I had an advantage. Matsui was family.

Well, almost.

He had gone out with my mum a couple of times. I suppose he really liked her and he knew that, to get in her good books, he'd have to get into mine. So, there I had instant immunity. I could cause all the trouble I wanted to. I wouldn't even get a slap on the wrist.

"Frankie! Come in." He greeted me as I neared his office. He had been waiting for me at the door. I got in and sat down. He sat opposite and immediately began talking.

"How've you been, son? Mum okay?" He asked pleasantly. _Suck up. _

"Oh yeah, we're great!" I said trying to be all enthusiastic with sugar-sweet smiles.

"Great… she get the flowers?"

I wanted to roll my eyes and puke at the same time. This man was a wimp; weak and drained of all masculinity.

"She loved them." I lied. "How did you know roses were her favourite?"

He shrugged looking pleased with himself and I urged inside for him to get on with it and hurry up.

"Frank, son, do you know why I called you in here?" He asked seriously. Now we were getting down to business. I wasn't the slightest bit afraid.

I shook my head.

"I've received a complaint from another student…"

I stayed silent. Then I acted surprised as if it had just dawned on me that the complaint was made about me. "Wait, you don't mean…" This was too easy. "You don't mean it was about me, do you? Wh-Why?" I acted hurt.

I thought he'd leave it there. That was usually enough. But, much to my dismay, he continued.

"It was very serious. The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that you hurt her and her friends on a daily basis!" He explained. He sounded, to me, a little too unsure, maybe not believing me this time. I knew I had to bring out the big guns to get him on my side.

"B-but," I stammered pathetically. "I would never hurt anyone!" It was hard not to laugh as I said that. "You know that. After…after my dad got put away, I swore I would never end up like him. You know that!" I said and, to add icing to the cake, buried my face in my hands.

"Oh, Frank," He said quietly. I grinned triumphantly into my palms. He'd bought it. Yet again. "I'm sorry. I know. I didn't believe it. It's just protocol to follow these things through."

I sniffed and looked up at him.

"Go on." He said. "Off you go."

I smiled with fake gratitude. "Thanks Mr. Matsui."

"Anytime. Tell mum I say 'hi'."

"Of course." I left the room, my forced cheesy smile sinking as soon as I stepped out of the door.

I scowled. Those four were gonna pay.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

_When he left the principals office, Frank went on a rampage, shoving whoever got in his way and giving strangers the dirtiest looks he could muster. He came to a halt at his first destination. Gabriella's locker._

He forced it open, taking a moment to look at all the nicely organised things inside, before tearing each of her books to shreds, tossing her picture of Troy aside and making an overall mess. Just as the bell rang to mark the start of lunch, warning him that he needed to move before anyone saw what he was doing, Frank's eye's fell upon a shiny object tucked among Gabriella's things. He pulled it out and inspected it as he walked casually away.

It was a bracelet; of no use to him. He considered tossing it before deciding to give it to his mother. She'd appreciate the gift.

He slipped it into his pocket and continued on his reckless way, scribbling a message on one of the post-it's he so conveniently kept with him and slipping it into Chad's locker.

He would have stopped there, the corridor now far too full of witnesses, had he not seen Taylor down the hall; not far from him. Her arrival posed as the perfect opportunity for a third and final act of malice.

He didn't go to her, instead staying still and silent attempting to blend into the crowd and go unseen. Luckily for him, Taylor was too caught up in her own complicated thoughts to see him, making his nasty and unnecessary plan fall right into place. Now all he needed was to stick out his foot.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Chad saw Frank hanging around near his locker and knew, before he opened it, that some hate-mail was waiting. Before opening his locker to read the note, Chad eyed Frank, whose back was facing him, warily. For some reason the boy was standing completely still, not ten metres away._

When he looked, Chad did, in fact, find a note but the message on it, he did not understand.

'_It told you not to tell.'_

Well, Chad had most certainly not done such a thing. And he couldn't imagine one of the others would have either.

He couldn't put any further thought into the matter as his concentration was broken by an ear-piercing shriek coming from where he had seen Frank standing. He looked up just in time to see Taylor, falling with brutal force to the floor, Frank suppressing a smile by her side, his foot still in the position it had been when he'd tripped her moments before.

Taylor landed ungracefully on her front, not having time to use her arms to brace her fall. Other students in the hall continued as if not noticing, seeing Frank and knowing not to get involved.

Chad saw pain and humiliation creeping over Taylor's features before seeing red. Like a bull in a ring, he charged at Frank, running down the hall. He lunged at him and managed to knock the bigger boy onto his back.

Chad sat on top of Frank, straddling him, with one hand clamped over the bully's throat and the other plummeting in a fist towards Franks face. He punched Frank so hard his fingers almost broke. Frank's nose began to bleed instantly, the red liquid staining Chad's knuckles and spraying up onto his clean green t-shirt.

The thought occurred to Chad that he may well have broken Frank's nose as he prepared to throw another punch. His fist stopped half an inch from Frank's face as he heard Taylor groan behind him.

He released his hold on Frank's neck and Frank sucked in a gasp of air. Chad immediately forgot the boy as he got up to see Taylor still on the floor, trying to pick herself up but failing as her bones ached and her skin stung.

Chad held out a hand and pulled her to her feet. She held onto him for support, her knee burning when pressure was put on it. He cupped her face in both hands.

"You okay?" He asked, sounding nowhere near as sincere as he meant to and still trembling with rage.

She nodded though it was a blatant lie. Her whole front was on fire; white hot with pain.

He pulled her close to him and held her tight, protecting her as he had failed to do before. Behind him, Frank was clambering to his feet, one hand on his bleeding nose.

The hallway was almost clear now. No-one wanted to be near Frank when he exploded, as he was sure to do.

"You'll pay for that, Danforth." Frank warned bitterly, using Chad's name for the first time ever. Chad turned to face him, an arm remaining around Taylor's waist.

"Let's go." Taylor whispered, loud enough for only Chad to hear. "Please. Let's get out of here." She was scared for Chad. Scared that he'd do something stupid. As if he hadn't done enough already.

"Stay away from us." Chad demanded with a strong and fearless voice.

"Come on." Taylor whispered urgently, pushing Chad back.

"Listen to me, Curly," Frank said pointing at Chad. "And you listen good, okay? You just made the biggest mistake of your life, and for that, you _will_ pay. I'm gonna to get you." He threatened. Chad didn't seem at all fazed. "I am gonna get you when you least expect it. You won't see it coming…"

"Bring it on, fat-boy." Chad retaliated. Frank's face grew redder, whether with anger or embarrassment, Chad did not know. Before he knew it, Taylor was pushing him, practically dragging him, away. Chad took one last look at Frank before turning around and walking towards Room 202 with Taylor, where they had arranged to meet Troy and Gabriella.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"I told Mr. Matsui about Frank." Gabriella admitted to Troy guiltily when they were alone together, waiting in Room 202 for Chad and Taylor to arrive. She took their absence as an opportunity to talk to Troy properly; something she hadn't done for a while.

Troy's mouth dropped open momentarily. "Please tell me you didn't." He said.

"I thought it would make things better," Gabriella told him. "But I think I've made things worse." She said miserably.

Troy placed a supportive hand on Gabriella's shoulder. "You did what you thought was right," he assured her. "At least you were brave enough to do _something. _That's more than can be said about the rest of us."

Gabriella was silent for a moment, not seeming convinced by what Troy had said. "You were right." She said quietly and Troy thought for a second that he had gotten through to her until she continued. "You all told me to keep my mouth shut and I didn't listen. Now Frank's angry…" She looked away from Troy. "What have I done?"

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"What have you done?!" Taylor hissed as she limped slightly alongside a still-fuming Chad. "What were you thinking?"

She was so scared Frank would follow through with his threat. Chad had made things worse by calling him 'fat-boy'. She'd seen what had happened to Troy and was afraid her own boyfriend would be in for a similar fate.

But that wasn't the only thing that scared her. She had never seen Chad that angry; that violent. He could easily have broken Frank's nose with a single punch.

"He hurt you, Taylor." He said as if it were obvious. "And, from what I heard; it wasn't the first time."

He didn't look at Taylor but she could tell from his voice that he was upset.

"Why didn't you tell me he hit you?" He asked.

"Troy told you…"

Chad nodded but said no more on the matter. "Did you tell anyone about Frank?" He finally turned to look at her, his usually bright features serious and miserable.

Taylor shook her head frantically. "No, never! Why?"

Chad looked ahead again. They were nearing their destination. "That's why he did this." He explained. "He's angry 'cos one of us told on him."

"Who?" Taylor asked, barely believing it.

Chad pushed open the door to Room 202, noticing Troy and Gabriella sitting on desks opposite each other and talking in hushed voices. They both looked up at him and Taylor. Chad began to walk towards them as he said quietly;

"Let's find out, shall we?"

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Frank can't be _that _angry or he would have done something by now." Troy assured Gabriella as she continued to fret.

Gabriella sighed and checked her watch. "Where are those two?" She tried to hide the worry in her voice.

"They'll be here soon." Troy said, though he wasn't sure.

Gabriella was becoming increasingly nervous. She could think of no reason for Chad or Taylor to be late meeting them other than a run-in with Frank. She was also nervous about when- or if- they did arrive. She'd have to explain to them that she told Matsui about Frank and nothing had been done. Taylor was her best friend; hopefully she'd be as understanding as Troy had been. But Chad wouldn't. No way. He had always been against telling. Gabriella knew she was in for a lot more than an 'I told you so' on his part.

"Chad's gonna be angry, isn't he?" Gabriella shared her worries with Troy. "That I told…"

Troy knew Gabriella was right and couldn't lie to her. Instead, he tried to lessen her fears.

"I'll talk to him." He said to her. "He'll understand."

The doors to the room swung open and in stepped Chad, as if on cue, closely followed by Taylor. The first thing Gabriella noticed about the two, before Taylor's unusual walking and the pain and apprehension on her face, was a few, barely-visible blood red stains on Chad's shirt, like spattered blood drops. The same liquid smudged his knuckles.

He muttered something inaudible to Taylor before bellowing from where he stood in the centre of the room;

"Which one of you told?!"

* * *

**A/N: **SO SORRY it took so bloomin' long! I was on holiday and now that I'm back at school I've hzd heaps to do and I've started a new fic and my life has been absolutely taken over by Big Brother Celebrity Hijack! Phew! I'm hoping I'll never leave you waiting that long again. Thanks for reading.

**_Apologies again_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	9. 8

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**"Which one of you told?"**

**8.**

_Gabriella's breath caught in her throat as Chad stormed towards her and Troy. Taylor, who edged closer into the room but still stayed at quite a distance, looked as frightened as Gabriella felt as well as being shaken and dishevelled. Troy opened his mouth, about to confess to a crime he didn't commit on Gabriella's behalf, but Gabriella herself beat him to it._

"I did." She admitted, her voice quiet and timid. "I told."

Taylor heaved a sigh from the corner of the room. She knew this would happen. She was worried about how Chad would react. And for good reason.

A growl came from deep within him as he narrowed his eyes at Gabriella. Before Chad spoke, Troy noticed a change in his best friend. He had become angry and bitter in a way he'd never been before. When he spoke, the usual cheer in his voice was gone, making him sound like a different person.

"What the hell were you thinking?" It was hardly a question the way Chad spat it out.

Gabriella wasn't about to back down. Troy had given her confidence in her decision. "I thought it was the right thing to do." She replied calmly.

"What's going on, man?" Troy asked. He needed an explanation for his friends out of character behaviour.

"What's going on," Chad said. "I _she" _He pointed a finger at Gabriella. "Has made things a hundred times worse than they already were."

Troy frowned. It couldn't be _that _bad. "How do you mean?" He noticed the blood drops on Chad's shirt and touched one gently with the tip of his finger. "Dude, what happened?"

Chad brushed Troy off him. "Frank was on some kind of… rampage! He tripped Taylor right in front of me. He hurt her because your selfish girlfriend couldn't do the one thing we told her not to do!" Chad's anger rose.

"Hey!" Troy warned. He wasn't going to allow anyone to bad mouth his girlfriend, though Gabriella was fine defending herself.

"Selfish?" She said with disbelief. "I did it for _us_!" So that he couldn't hurt any of us any more."

Chad laughed bitterly. "For us, huh?" He said calmly. He stepped closer to Gabriella, getting his face as close to hers as he could without their noses touching. Then he erupted, shouting so loud it almost deafened her. "_Does it look like any of us have benefited from your actions?!" _

Gabriella gasped and there was silence in the room. In the corner, Taylor buried her head in her hands with despair, her palms catching the tears that flowed silently down her cheeks. What was happening to them? Chad had never shouted like that before.

Troy got up from the desk he'd been sitting on and gently pushed Chad backwards so that he was no longer close to an awe-struck Gabriella.

"What is your _problem_, Chad?!" Troy asked, shocked by the actions of his 'best friend'.

Chad was acting like a different person. It was frightening.

"She did what she thought was right, Chad." Taylor finally spoke up, her head no longer in her hands but still hanging low to face the floor. "She's sorry."

"_Sorry _doesn't cut it." Chad said through clenched teeth.

"What's done is done." Taylor pointed out sorrowfully.

Chad spun around to face Taylor. "Why are you defending her?!" He asked angrily. "What's done was done because of _HER_!" He turned back to face a fearful Gabriella. "Because of this self-centred, inconsiderate, cowardly _bitch_!"

Troy, who stood facing Chad; between him and Gabriella, was past warning his friend verbally. Chad had long since crossed the line. He shoved Chad backwards firmly, barely affecting his friend at all. Chad shoved back, a little surprised that Troy had pushed him.

The strength of Chad's push almost knocked Troy over. Behind him, Troy heard Gabriella begin to sob and the anger flared up inside him.

His fist flew at Chad's face, hitting him just above his left eye.

There was a beat of silence.

Troy bit his lip, already regretting his actions as Chad held a tentative hand over his injured eye.

Taylor gasped and ran to her boyfriend. She held his head in one hand and used the other to try and pry his hand from where it clutched his eye to see what damage had been done. Chad shook her off and pushed her away, glaring at both Troy and Gabriella.

"You punch me," He said quietly to Troy. He was still visibly angry but calmer, sadder. "Over _her?_" he added with disbelief.

"You went to far, man." Troy stated. He was sorry for what he had done. He regretted it. But he would do it again if he had to.

Chad shook his head slowly. "I thought we were brothers."

Troy said nothing.

"Oh, so it's like that, huh?" Chad continued, sounding hurt and feeling isolated.

Troy continued to stay in silence. He looked away from his friend.

"Alright, fine." Chad said finally. "I get the hint." He turned and headed for the door. "You don't wanna know me? I'm gone." He reached the door and stopped, waiting for Taylor to arrive by his side. When she didn't he turned and looked at her. "Coming, Tay?"

She stood beside Gabriella, an arm around her best friend and a regretful look on her face. She showed no signs of joining him.

Chad was shocked. First his best friend and now his girlfriend had turned against him.

All his anger drained out of him as he realised how much of a jerk he had been. He could see that Taylor was hurt and disappointed by his unacceptable behaviour, Gabriella; tearful and shaken, was visibly trembling at the very sight of him and Troy looked at him as if he was a stranger. Chad realised that he'd become what he'd been trying to protect his friends from; a bully. He knew he deserved the treatment he was getting.

He considered apologising but then thought it best to leave them to calm down a bit. He sighed and left, his head hanging with shame.

Taylor watched her boyfriend leave with dismay. Once the door shut behind him, she whispered;

"What's happened to us?"

Troy sensed her insecurity and tried to comfort her, only to be interrupted by her before he'd even begun. "Tay-."

"We're changing. Turning against each other."

"Things'll get better." Gabriella said. Her words were so unenthusiastic and unbelievably unlikely that Taylor laughed out loud sadly.

"Yeah," she said with a weak smile. "'Course they will."

The remaining three of them stayed in silent thought for a second before Taylor spoke again.

"I gotta go." She said, surprising her friends with a swift change of mood. "See you later." And she briskly exited before any more could be said.

Gabriella heaved a sigh. If she'd just kept her mouth shut…

"You did the right thing you know?" said Troy as if sensing her doubt. He moved so that he stood in front of her where she sat on a desk.

"Doesn't feel like it." She admitted sadly. Troy placed a gentle hand under her chin and tilted her head up so that she was looking straight at him. He cupped one of her cheeks in his hand and used his thumb to tenderly wipe away the damp of tears. Gabriella leaned into his hand, taking comfort in his warm touch.

"You were brave to do what you did." Troy told her truthfully. "I'm proud of you."

Gabriella gazed deep into Troy's pools of blue eyes. "Look what he's doing to us." She whispered as Troy continued to stroke her cheek. "You know Taylor can't sleep… she's practically living off coffee. Chad… has changed. So much." Was all she could say about him. "Me, I'm a nervous wreck!" She admitted. "And you… you're bringing weapons to school."

Shocked that she knew, Troy's hand shot to his back pocket where he was comforted by the feel of the hard, solid shell of his knife. _Still there. Safe. _

"How do you know about that?" He asked, worried about how she was going to react.

"Does it matter?" Gabriella pointed out, not wanting to go off the subject. She'd wanted a chance to discuss this alone with Troy ever since Taylor told her about it on Saturday. Troy looked as if he was about to answer but didn't.

"I mean, what were you thinking?" she asked incredulously. "A knife!"

Troy looked around and put a finger to his lips to quieten Gabriella who was talking so loud that the entire school may have heard.

"A knife!" she repeated in a much quieter but more aggressive hiss. "In school!"

"Gabi, I-"

"No excuses, Troy." Gabriella stated. "You could get excluded…. You could get hurt!"

"And so could you!" Troy shouted suddenly, surprising both himself and Gabriella. "I'm sorry." He said more calmly. "Sorry." He whispered.

He pulled Gabriella towards him and held her in a tight embrace, stroking the back of her head which rested in his chest where she could hear his rapid heart beats.

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't want to protect my girl? Huh?" Troy asked softly.

"I know…"

"I won't stab anyone." He promised. "I just need it with me… for reassurance."

Gabriella nodded against Troy's chest. "I understand." She said. And she _did _understand. Under other circumstances she would even have been flattered by Troy's willingness to risk his education and safety to protect her. She knew he wasn't going to hurt anyone.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Always." He promised, planting a kiss on her forehead. Gabriella smiled and, for that split second, everything seemed normal; like it had been before Frank.

Their moment of bliss was broken by the shrill school bell that signalled the start of the last two lessons.

Gabriella hopped off the desk she sat on and grabbed Troy's hand in her own.

"Let's go." She said and Troy nodded. They headed to their next lesson where, for two hours; Chad sat alone, talking to no-one and keeping his head down, Taylor kept herself busy by answering every question she could and Troy and Gabriella tried to erase the events of that lunchtime from their memories.

* * *

**A/N: **Short. I know. Sorry. The plot is thickening and I've been quite enjoying writing the next few chapters. A hint to what's coming up; (more drama, more action). Tune in!

**_Besos_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	10. 9

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**9. **

_Tuesday. The beginning of the end. Unbeknown to anyone, this was the day that would change everything. But, for a day that ended with such drama, it started just as dull and depressing as any other. Maybe even more so._

****

It was one of those rare days in Albuquerque that the sky was grey and cloudy. Everything seemed darker and the almost black rain clouds looked as if they would burst any second. The bleak atmosphere was reflected tenfold in the moods of most of Albuquerque's inhabitants, including almost every student and teacher at East High. Even, bright and bubbly Sharpay Evans seemed to be lacking her usual dazzle as she walked; not strutted, into school. 

Troy and Gabriella met up before school to relish in their moments of peace and bliss before having to put up with another days inevitable abuse. They both predicted that the day ahead would be a tough one; Frank would want revenge for being snitched on and Troy no longer had his best friend for support. Not to mention the fact that Taylor would probably still be upset by Chad's behaviour the day before, as they all were.

Troy still couldn't believe that his best friend since pre-school had acted so absurdly. He had never imagined Chad could be capable of such bitterness; he knew his friend sometimes had trouble controlling his temper but he had never lost it that bad before.

"What are we gonna do about Chad?" Gabriella asked as if knowing what Troy was thinking. They were walking together to school, dawdling to prolong their arrival.

Unable to hide the hint of sourness in his voice, Troy replied; "What about him?" He didn't think he could ever forgive Chad for disrespecting his girlfriend.

"He's your best friend, Troy." As much as Gabriella resented the way Chad had spoken to her, she knew he didn't really mean it. She understood that he was just as scared as the rest of them and shouting was his way of dealing with it. She didn't want Troy to throw away his and Chad's life-long relationship over her. "At least talk to him." She said when she got no reply for Troy. "Give him a chance to explain…."

"No way." Troy said without hesitation.

" Troy…"

"No, Gabriella. No way." He repeated. "I don't want to listen to anything he has to say. There's nothing he could do or say to redeem himself or change my opinion of him." Troy paused and then muttered; "He's so stubborn anyway; he probably won't even _want_ to explain himself."

"Oh, come on Troy…" Gabriella encouraged. They could see the school now and would arrive in a matter of seconds. She wanted to finish this conversation while they could but Troy had made up his mind.

"No means no." Troy said, sounding like a toddler having a tantrum. "I am _not _talking to Chad Danforth."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- **

"I'm not talking to you." Taylor told Chad, contradicting herself. Chad looked devastated.

Since arriving at school and seeing no sign of Gabriella or Troy, Taylor had been working hard to avoid Chad. Unfortunately for her, he was a man on a mission and had set out to find her and make amends after a long night of thinking. Unfortunately for _him, _ Taylor was having none of it.

"You don't have to talk," Chad explained softly. "Just listen."

Taylor shook her head furiously, determined not to let him butter her up. "No," She said noticing him bite his lip nervously. "No talking. No listening. Leave me alone."

"Come on baby-."

"_Don't _call me that!" Taylor snapped angrily, attracting unwanted attention from other students in the hallway. She noticed this and lowered her voice so it was almost a whisper. "You have… no right!"

She looked as if she was about to cry. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she was clearly struggling to keep her voice steady.

"Sorry…" Chad apologised sadly; the single word not saying nearly enough. There was a lump in his throat and he wasn't sure if he might be close to tears too. It was killing him to see how much pain he was causing Taylor.

Taylor's line of sight drifted to Chad's faintly bruised eyelid; slightly swollen from Troy's punch the day before. Even in all her anger, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. All she wanted was for him to take her in his arms and hold her close to him. But that couldn't happen. She wouldn't let it.

"Just, stay away from me." She said looking up to hold her tears back.

Chad nodded. He understood that she wanted to be left alone. He knew Taylor could be stubborn at times and thought it best to do what she asked. "I'll talk to you later though, right?" He said unsurely.

"No Chad!" Taylor hissed impatiently as if talking to a child. Chad was making this so hard. She wasn't sure if she could handle any more of his constant bothering. She took a deep breath and stared him right in the eyes to get her point across solidly. "Yesterday," She began. "You showed me a side of you that was… disgusting- to say the least. I- I couldn't believe that those words were coming out of your mouth, that you; my _boyfriend, _could act so cruel and bitter." She admitted. Her voice cracked and she coughed to regain her stronger tone. "But you did." She stated miserably. "So no, Chad, to answer your question; we will not talk later." Her bottom lip quivered but her voice stayed sure and powerful. "We will not talk… _ever._"

Chad felt his heart physically stop and his breath hitched in his throat. Left speechless, he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Taylor walked away from him, not turning back even once.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- **

The day only got worse from then on. Even with no sign of Frank, not one of the four teenagers could shake the feelings of uncertainty and fear that niggled at their brains.

Halfway through an unbelievably boring history lesson, a note landed on Gabriella's desk. Before opening it, she looked around cautiously to see where it came from. Her eyes met with Chad's who sat at the back of the class and nodded to signal that the note was from him and encourage her to open it. Reluctantly, Gabriella peered down and unfolded the paper in her lap.

_The things I said yesterday were unforgivable and I understand if you want to tear this note up and throw it away but read it first. Please. _

_I get it if you hate me. I know I've been a complete ass, not just yesterday but this whole time. I was horrible yesterday and said a lot that I shouldn't have. I can't begin to say how sorry I am. _

_We need to talk properly. All of us. Meet at lunch? _

_C _

Gabriella finished reading and thought for a moment about what the message said. Chad had really hurt her with his words the day before but it was obvious he was sorry and regretted his actions and she agreed with the fact that they needed to talk. She was far from forgiving him, and even further from ever calling him a friend again, but she was pleased that he had the decency to make an effort to set things right. She could feel Chad's anxious gaze on her and turned her head to face him again. She nodded to let him know that they would meet up at lunch and talk things through. A faint smile appeared on Chad's face and there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

When Gabriella turned back around to face the front of the class, she was shocked to find her view blocked by the sturdy form of Mr. Rosentharpe, who stood right in front of her with his hands on his hips. She looked up at his face which stared sternly back down at her.

"Passing notes are we Miss Montez?" He asked in his usual nasal monotone voice. The entire class were watching; each of them equally as stunned as Gabriella that she, the star pupil, had done wrong. Before she could deny it, Rosentharpe spoke again. "Well, seeing as you so much like to pass things around, I'd like you to do me a favour." His thick, black, untamed eyebrows wiggled as he spoke and Gabriella found she could not avert her attention from the clusters of hair that were trying to emerge from inside the man's nose and ears. Thankfully, he turned away and walked to the front of the class, leaving Gabriella free of the horrific sight of his face up close.

He beckoned Gabriella to the front with him and the class watched as she did a walk of shame to his desk.

"I'd like you to deliver this to Room 304." He said pushing a dusty box of old books towards her.

Gabriella gave him a look that said; '_Are you serious?' _but he ignored it and got back to ranting about whatever it was that he was ranting about. Gabriella scowled at his back, grabbed the box's handles and stormed off like a child having a silent tantrum.

Walking the silent hallways with a box of books that weighed a ton, Gabriella couldn't help but feel exposed and a little unsafe. There was no-one about but something in her mind told her that, even though he hadn't been in any lessons or registration, Frank was around. It was never good news when you didn't know where he was. At least when you _did _you could go somewhere else to avoid him. But knowing he was in the school somewhere and not knowing where was more frightening than you could imagine.

She arrived at room 304 and heaved a heavy sigh. Her arms ached and she flung the box down on the nearest desk so hard that the dust that the ancient books had been collecting for what seemed like centuries flew up in her face.

Coughing and spluttering, she wiped at her face, her eyes were stinging and watering as she blinked vigorously and her nose tickled as if she was about to sneeze. _What a nightmare. _

She thought of the injustice; the fact that Chad had been the one passing notes; not her, and yet here she was getting covered in dust in a dark, empty classroom.

And then she realised. She was in a dark, empty classroom. Just the kind of place that Frank was known to wait in hiding, like a tiger in long grass stalking its prey. She backed out of the room, not wanting to turn her back to the darkness.

Once out in the light and spacious hallway, Gabriella allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief before making her way back to the classroom. While on her way, she passed the Girls Bathroom and decided to wash her still stinging eyes with water.

The bathroom door creaked as she entered. It was a small room, but bright. The forever damp floor, walls and ceiling were all covered in the same shiny white tiles. There were only five cubicles and three sinks. It was empty and the only sound was a distant dripping and the whir of the spinning ceiling fan.

Gabriella turned on the cold tap, whose water came out lukewarm. While she let the water run and cool down, she examined herself in the mirror. Her nose and eyes were red and her cheeks damp from where her eyes had been watering.

She bent over the sink and washed the cold water that she cupped in both hands over her face. It was refreshingly satisfying and Gabriella found herself immensely relieved. She did it once more and then stood upright.

She froze. Didn't even breathe. Her eyes were wide with fear, her mouth agape. In the reflection in front of her, which had once shown herself standing alone she now saw herself standing in the same place, same position. But now; she wasn't alone.

Behind her, with a wicked smile on his face, stood Frank who waved at her slowly in the reflection.

Gabriella tried to run but had no chance. She only managed to get a couple of feet away when Frank reached our and snatched her arm effortlessly. He pulled her by the upper arm towards him with great ease, despite her writhing and struggling in his grip. She made to scream but his reflexes were sharp and his free hand was clamped over her mouth in an instant.

"Shh." He whispered, taking great pleasure in watching her terror-filled eyes dart frantically around the room. She moaned against his hand and continued to try and wriggle free of his hold.

Then, fear turned to anger. She began to lash out, her feet kicking and free hand going for his face.

Frank still remained unfazed. He violently shoved Gabriella against the nearest tile wall, momentarily stunning her and allowing him to remove his grasp on her am and replace his hand on her neck.

If it were possible, Gabriella's eyes would have grown even wider. She had never felt such fear for her life.

Still smiling, Frank put pressure on her throat causing her to gasp. He removed his hand from her mouth, knowing that she could no longer scream with him crushing her windpipe.

"I… I can't," she tried to say, her voice coming in a raspy whimper "C-can't… breathe" She managed finally.

"You went to Matsui." He ignored her pleas.

""I'm... s-sorry!" She forced out. Her lips were starting to tingle and she was becoming increasingly light-headed. "Let g-g-."

Frank pursed his lips. "Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you."

"Let go!" Gabriella begged with her last ounce of strength. The room was spinning. She could feel herself getting weaker.

Frank loosened his grip but did not let go completely. Gabriella took in a hungry gulp of air, refilling her lungs and breathing as deeply as she could.

Before he could take another breath, Frank's hold tightened again.

"I could have been excluded." He continued. "Is that what you wanted?"

Gabriella tried to shake her head as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I've had enough of you and your friends. It's over…."

She was light-headed again and could no longer comprehend what Frank was saying. The corners of her vision were blurred and Frank's voice echoed in her ears. She was slowly losing consciousness and Frank showed no signs of letting her breathe again. She'd need a miracle to get out of this one.

Franks words merged into a mess of sounds as he continued to talk. Gabriella shut her eyes, exhausted.

Then came a sound like music to her ears. The bathroom door creaked open. And then a familiar but unrecognisable voice, not Frank's, yelled;

"Hey!"

Gabriella didn't know who it was and, to be honest, she didn't care. Whoever it was has distracted Frank. So much so in fact that he had let go of her completely.

She didn't need to think twice. Still a little dizzy, Gabriella sprinted to the door, past her unidentified saviour and out into the hall. She ran all the way back to her classroom without looking back, gasping for air and savouring every time she inhaled.

She didn't go into the room straight away. Instead she stayed outside for a few minutes to get her breathing back under control and come to terms with what had just happened. She paced quietly outside the room, her mind racing. The same thought was repeating in her head; _I could have died. I nearly died. _If someone hadn't come in that last minute, there was no doubt in her mind that she would have died.

So Frank was serious. Frank was mad. He would kill her just for telling! He was crazy. And dangerous. And Gabriella was terrified. She'd gotten away this time but whose to say she wouldn't the next. And what if he went after her friends? Troy? She could tell no-one because that clearly made things worse. She could do nothing because she was too weak. She was defenceless.

Drawing in a deep shaky breath, she decided she was ready to re-enter the classroom. Her teacher would definitely be wondering where she was and she didn't want to get into any trouble. It was mad to think that after nearly being killed she was going back to class but she was determined not to let her fear of Frank take over her life. She certainly wouldn't let him affect her grades.

Her hand hadn't even touched the doorknob when a piercing alarm began to ring. She felt a tingle of fear up her back as she realised it was the fire alarm. She knew for a fact that East High had drills every other month. This one had come a month early.

The door swung open almost hitting her. In a messy, not-quite-single file, her class came filing out whispering together, like they did every time, about how they 'don't think it's a drill this time'. Gabriella waited by the door for Troy and Taylor. Once they were together, they followed the rest of the class out onto the grass at the front of the school where the entire staff and students were assembled, just like any other drill.

Huddled on the grass so close together, it was very easy for rumours to spread quickly. Even though there was no smoke and, even more important; no flames, word still got around that the school was about to burn down. Troy, Taylor and Gabriella ignored all the things they heard and tried to figure out what was _really _going on.

"It's a drill right?" Troy asked. He got on his tip-toes and peered over the crowd at the school, looking for any sign of fire or danger. He saw nothing.

"What else?" Gabriella said. Her throat hurt a little to talk and she wondered if her neck was red or bruised. Since neither her friend nor her boyfriend had mentioned anything, she guessed not.

Taylor shrugged. "It's early though." She said, also peering at the school. "The last one was only a few weeks ago."

Gabriella nodded. "That's true, but I don't see any fire."

"Maybe it's a gas leak." Troy suggested. He sighed. "It's so humid out here."

Gabriella nodded with agreement. "Yeah. I wish they would get this over with and let us back in. I think it's gonna rain."

Just then, sirens began to wail in the distance. Silence fell amongst the chatting students on the grass as they strained their ears to hear if the sirens were coming closer. The sirens got louder and soon they could see fire truck speeding towards them, closely followed by another and an ambulance.

They screeched to a halt, not bothering to park properly and a couple of firemen and paramedics ran up the steps and into the school without even glancing at the students they passed that stood watching them with shock and confusion.

"Well, that doesn't usually happen." Troy said after the fire truck sirens were turned off. Taylor and Gabriella were still looking up at the school; Gabriella looking for flames and Taylor watching Mr. Matsui who paced back and forth at the top of the stairs. He looked worried and frighteningly unsure.

"I don't think this is a drill." Taylor said quietly.

Rumours were now spreading like the plague across the patch of grass where all the students and teachers stood. Strangely, everyone seemed to be thrilled at the prospect of danger and the possibility they could be sent home early.

"Guys, look." Taylor said, nudging Gabriella and pointing at Mr. Matsui who still stood at the top of the stairs. One of the two firemen that had run in to the school had now come out and was talking to the principal. His back was to the crowd so Troy, Taylor and Gabriella couldn't even attempt to lip-read. Instead they tried to read Matsui's facial expressions.

At first, he looked relieved. He nodded with a smile on his face and patted the fireman on the shoulder. Then, like a balloon filled with lead, his face dropped. He looked at the school and then out at his students gathered on the grass. He looked back at the fireman who was pointing at the road and took his hands up to his face with a look of horror.

"Looks bad." Troy said.

Taylor nodded. "What do you think they're saying?"

Gabriella was about to hazard a guess when Mr. Matsui took a megaphone from the fireman and started to talk to the crowd below him.

"Students…" he started gravely and, despite the megaphone, quietly. Troy, Gabriella and Taylor glanced at each other. The whispering and chatting stopped immediately. Everyone wanted to know what was going on. The excitement was bubbling up inside of them all and it continued to do so as Matsui began to talk again. "There has been… an incident…"

He continued as his students and teachers alike listened intently. He explained that, due to what he only described as 'an incident', they would all be allowed to go home early. A mixture of relief, joy and confusion washed over the crowd but no-one bothered to question the idea of a day off. They were dismissed immediately and were allowed to go home class by class.

Until the next day, that was the last they heard of it.

* * *

**A/N: **Mystery... Thanks so much to all the reviewers. My world lights up a little more with every message you leave so keep it up!

**_Happy Almost-Valentines Day!_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	11. 10

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Wow. I gotta say, that last batch of reviews really took my breath away. I had no idea people were enjoying this so much. So as a special Valentines Day treat, I put a rush on this chapter and submitted it as soon as I could. Hopes you like it.**

* * *

**10. **

_**You've got mail! **_

**Sent:** Today, 7.04 A.M.

**From:** 'Troy Bolton' B-BallHero(at)bored.ms

**To:** 'Gabriella Montez' StarInHeaven(at)bored.ms, 'Taylor McKessie' prodigy(at)bored.ms

**Subject:** Schools out! Scream and shout!

---

Hey guys! Have u heard??? School's cancelled today! They just called this morning. We should totally meet up. How about the park at about 10:00? Meet at the usual place. We can decide how we want to spend our day of freedom from there. (How cool is this?!)

Btw, I was thinking of inviting Chad. This is a perfect opportunity to work things out. But if either of u has a problem with it I wont. Just tell me.

Troy

* * *

Taylor arrived at the park ten minutes late to find Troy and Gabriella waiting for her. She apologised sincerely but was sure they had appreciated their time alone before her arrival. She could see it in her eyes whenever they were together as just the three of them, as kind as they were to her and as much as they liked her being there, they would prefer to just have each other. It was true what people said about three being a crowd. With Troy and Gabriella, Taylor felt a bit uncomfortable, like she was getting in their way. Things were different though when Chad was around…. 

" Chad not here then?" She tried hard to hide her disappointment and act like she didn't care.

"No, actually." Troy said, looking around him as if Chad would suddenly appear now that his name had been mentioned. "He didn't reply to my email either."

Taylor shrugged and put on her '_not bothered' _face. "Guess it's just us then."

"Don't you think we should wait for him? Or go find him?" Gabriella asked. She had been well up for making amends, especially since Chad's plans to do so the day before were interrupted.

"What's the point?" Taylor asked. "It's obvious he doesn't care."

"Maybe he didn't get the email."

"He always checks his email." Troy stated. He was on Taylor's side. He had made an effort to be the bigger person for Gabriella's sake because he could see how the rift forming between them and Chad was starting to affect her. Chad hadn't even bothered to show up. He hadn't even bothered to have the decency to at least _tell them _that he wasn't going to show up. He'd thrown the invitation, and attempt to set things right, back in Troy's face so, as far as Troy was concerned, Chad was out of second chances.

But Gabriella was desperate to talk things through. They all needed to be friends again or their lives would be even more miserable and that would be downright unbearable.

"Well," she started, sounding sure of herself. "I don't care what you two say. I'm going over there."

"Where?"

"His house!" Gabriella said as if it was obvious. Taylor huffed and Gabriella gave her a silencing stare.

"Why?"

Gabriella turned to Troy who had asked the question. "Because I know he wants to be friends again. I know he's sorry."

"Really? And he told you that, did he?" Troy asked with a patronising disbelief. He was forced to eat his words however when Gabriella came out with and unexpected;

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he did."

She took the note he had given her the day before out of her pocket and handed it smugly to Troy. "Go on." She urged. "Read it."

Troy raised his eyebrows, unimpressed, but did as he was told. " 'The things I said yesterday were unforgivable and I understand if you wanna tear this note up and throw it away but read it first…. Please.' " Troy looked up from the note.

"Carry on."

He sighed. " 'I get it if you hate me. I know I've been a complete ass,' Damn right…."

" Troy!"

" '… not just yesterday but this whole time. I was horrible yesterday and said a lot that I shouldn't have. I can't begin to say how sorry I am….' Yada…yada…yada…" he finished seeming immensely unmoved.

Taylor however, was much less negative. "He really wrote that?" She asked sounding touched. Gabriella nodded, pleased that she'd finally gotten through to someone. "I'll come with you." Taylor said. "To Chad's."

Troy sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Now he knew that he _had _to come unless he wanted to spend a rare day off alone.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- **

"I can't believe we're doing this." Troy muttered miserably under his breath. He stood with Gabriella and Taylor on Chad's front porch waiting for him to answer the door after ringing the bell three times.

"What are you moaning about now Troy" asked Gabriella as she pressed her face against on of the windows to see inside. "I don't think there's anyone in." Her breath fogged up the glass and she wiped it away.

"I'm just saying," Troy began, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "If he's so desperate to apologise, he should be the one coming after us, not the other way round." He stopped as Taylor rang the doorbell for the fourth time. "And we're wasting our time anyway. He clearly isn't here."

"Where else would he be?" Taylor said. "You know he's a heavy sleeper. He's probably in bed and can't hear us." She paused. "I say we let ourselves in."

"That's breaking and entering!" Gabriella exclaimed.

Taylor waggled her finger. "Not if we don't break anything."

"And how do you suggest we _don't _do that?" Troy asked

Taylor smiled as if she knew something they didn't and looked around suspiciously. When certain no-one was looking, she stuck her hand into the letterbox in the door. Gabriella and Troy watched, baffled and perplexed. After a split second of fiddling, there was a click and the door swung gently open.

"Tada!" Taylor said, looking at the other two with pride. Before they could ask, she answered the question she knew they were thinking. "Like I said, he sleeps really heavily. He showed me this trick once after I complained at him for keeping me waiting out here for too long." She chuckled. "He doesn't mind. It's cheaper than giving me a key."

Troy and Gabriella looked impressed. They smiled and followed Taylor into the house. It was neat and quiet and dark; lifeless.

"Where are his parents?" Gabriella asked. The house seemed empty and untouched as if it had never been lived in.

" Chad's mum is a property developer. She spends a lot of time away from home." Troy explained as Taylor began to make her way upstairs.

"And his dad?" Gabriella asked when it seemed no-one was planning to continue. She was sure she saw a quick glance between Taylor and Troy before Taylor said solemnly;

"He was killed during a robbery at 'J. McHarman'-- you know, the jewellery store-- a few years back."

Gabriella was shocked. "I had no idea." She admitted guiltily.

"He doesn't like to talk about it." Said Troy quietly as they neared Chad's bedroom. "He was there when it happened. He saw it all." He whispered.

Gabriella was lost for words, coming out will a severely understated, "That's awful."

Taylor knocked on the door to Chad's bedroom and called out his name. There was no answer so she tried again. She got the same results. After a quick glance at Troy and Gabriella, she slowly opened the door and gazed inside.

"Oh my god." She whispered breathlessly, shocked at what she saw.

"What is it?" Gabriella asked with concern. Taylor, who still stood at the door, was blocking the view inside making it impossible for Gabriella and Troy to see what was alarming her so. "What's wrong, Tay? What can you see?"

Without a word, Taylor stepped aside to allow Troy and Gabriella to see what had left her speechless.

It took their breath away.

"Are those…" Troy began; a mix of awe and astonishment in his voice. "Are those post-its?" He asked finally.

He was referring, of course, to the wall directly opposite the door, straight in front of them. The wall that did not suit the room, did not match the other walls. For this wall was not blue like the others. It was yellow with row upon row of post-it notes, stuck over its original blue paint and blocking out the wall without a patch of blue showing from underneath. To add to that, the yellow notes were also scattered across the floor and cluttered almost every surface. Within it all, Chad was nowhere in sight.

"This is mad." Gabriella said, taking in the incredible view.

"There's got to be hundreds of them." Taylor whispered feeling paranoid and jumpy. She couldn't stop looking around to see if anyone was behind her. This was just too surreal. It was like one of those psycho-thrillers her older brother was so into. But this time, the psycho was Chad.

For almost five minutes they stood in the doorway as if afraid to enter until Troy finally walked cautiously to the yellow wall. He read a few; examined them, and turned back to the girls who remained at the door.

"They're notes." He informed them. "From Frank, I think."

Taylor's ears perked up. "What do they say?"

"It's horrible." Troy said, genuinely upset by the things he read. "I don't want to say."

Curious, Taylor bent down and picked up the nearest note that lay by her feet. "I'm going to… kill you." She read aloud, her heart fluttering with terror as she read the final words.

"I had no idea…" Gabriella began.

"None of us did." Said Troy. He was starting to doubt himself as a friend. He hadn't even noticed that his best friend was suffering such awful abuse.

"We should get out of here." Taylor said. Chad hadn't wanted them to know about this. That was why he had never told them. She was shocked that he had hidden something so huge from them but she knew him and understood that he was a very private person. He would hate to know that his space had been invaded and that they had seen what he had tried so hard to keep from them.

She dropped the note she held to the floor and headed back out onto the porch. Troy and Gabriella followed obediently.

Once outside, Gabriella took in a deep breath. "Well, that was…" She couldn't find words.

"Disturbing." Said Taylor.

"Eye-opening." Said Troy.

Something then occurred to Taylor. "Where is he, then? If he's not here, where is he?"

They hadn't noticed the old woman out on the porch next door but she had noticed them. And she must have heard Taylor's concerned question because she cleared her throat and said loudly;

"If you kids are looking for the Danforth boy, you won't find him here."

All three turned and looked at her.

"Sorry?" Gabriella asked politely, unsure of what the lady meant.

"Yeah," the old woman continued as if not hearing her. "Cops were round here yesterday trying to find his ma'. Couldn't find her of course…." She seemed to have forgotten the teens were there and was now talking to herself. "Sad really," she said distantly as if in deep thought. "A boy so young should not have to be alone at a time like this."

"A time like what? What are you talking about?" Taylor asked. The woman looked at her like she had only just noticed Taylor was there.

"What?" She said with disbelief. "You mean you haven't heard? It's been all over the news."

"What has?" Troy asked impatiently.

"The attack!" she said as if it was obvious. "At the school! Chad Danforth, attacked in his own school!" She said. "Stabbed." She said. "Dying."

* * *

**A/N: **I know some of you saw that one coming. You brainy bunch! 

**_Don't want flowers or chocolates or cards filled with love,_**

**_As a Valentines gift straight from you,_**

**_All I need is one press of that purple square button_**

**_That's labelled; 'submit a review'!_**

**_xX M Xx_**


	12. 11

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**11. _The day before;_ **

After failing miserably in his attempts to apologise to Taylor, Chad hoped desperately that Gabriella would be more forgiving. He wasn't sure if speaking face-to-face would be such a great idea so he waited until his history lesson, wrote a note and passed it to her across the room. The moments he spent waiting for her to respond felt like an eternity. If she said no, that was it. He'd lost his best friends and his girlfriend. His future at East High was riding on her reaction. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Gabriella turned and faced him. With a slight nod she let him know that his proposal to meet at lunch had been accepted. Relief surrounded him. Now he had a chance to set things right.

He felt guilty when Gabriella was told off for passing notes since she had nothing to do with it, and he would have spoken up and taken the blame had the punishment not been to deliver a box to another room. In his eyes, getting sent out of that boring lesson was more of a reward or treat than a punishment. So, he allowed her to do it, hoping she'd appreciate it as much as he would have.

Almost ten minutes later, she had not returned. Mr. Rosentharpe, more angry than concerned, sent a student out to find her. That student was Chad. He complied willingly.

He started down the hall, on his was to room 304 where he assumed Gabriella was. He wasn't even halfway there when he heard hushed voices, shuffling and a thud coming from the ladies bathroom. He found it suspicious but did not want to intrude. It was the _ladies _bathroom after all and whatever happened in there was none of his business.

He decided to keep going, ignore the noises and find Gabriella. But before he could even take another step, he heard whimpering and what sounded like someone choking. _That _he could not ignore.

He didn't hear the door creak as he entered. His attention was fixed on a sight that shocked and scared him. There was one positive thought in his mind though; at lest he had found Gabriella.

She was pale and her lips were ever-so-slightly tinted blue. She was pinned to a wall by a hand around her throat. Frank's hand.

Without hesitation, he called out, "Hey!" and Frank turned to look at him releasing Gabriella in the process. As unwell as Gabriella looked, she was clearly well enough to run as she shot like a rocket past Chad and out the door.

With Frank's fierce, manic gaze on him, Chad thought it best to follow Gabriella's example and run. And he was about to. He was going to run as fast as he could as far as he could. But he didn't. Because Frank showed no signs of wanting to come as him. He was angry beyond description but he, like Chad, stood completely still.

In his mind, Chad was trying to find something to say. He didn't want to send Frank over the edge but at the same time, Frank needed a god talking to.

"I think," he said, choosing his words cautiously. "It's about time we sorted this whole thing out. Ended it, once and for all."

He waited for Frank to respond. There was no verbal response but the fire in his eyes simmered down and his fists un-clenched. His scowl became a mere frown and his breathing evened out. Chad felt encouraged by this and continued.

"You've got a bone to pick with me, right?" He said neither expecting nor receiving a reply. "'Cause laughed at you..." Franks scowl returned. Chad was undeterred. "_I _laughed at you." He emphasised. "And I'm sorry. That was stupid and thoughtless of me. But my friends, they have done nothing to you. In fact, before all this, they thought you were a pretty decent guy. So, I'm asking—no _begging _you to please leave them alone from now on."

Frank started to talk as soon as Chad was finished. His facial expression was hard to read; a sort f sarcastic sincerity. " Chad," He said softly. Chad nodded, glad that his nickname 'Curly' had not been used. It was a good start. "Do you remember what I said to you yesterday after you punched me?" He didn't wait for Chad to answer. "Now, I myself don't recall it word for word but I do believe it was along the lines of; '_You wont see it coming but I'm gonna get you'. _Do you remember?"

Chad noticed a change in Frank. He was using longer words, a better vocabulary, he was calm and for once he seemed intelligent. Chad decided not to think into it and just answered yes to the question.

Frank nodded, pleased with the response he was clearly expecting.

"Good." He paused and got back to his initial point. "Well, right now I'm wondering; did you?"

Chad was glad to be getting through to Frank. It seemed things were really sorting themselves out. At the same time, it had to be said that he had no clue what Frank was going on about.

"Did I what?" He asked.

"Did you see it coming?" Franks question sounded more like a riddle to Chad.

Growing impatient with the random questions, Chad asked; "See _what _coming?"

The question wasn't even completely out his mouth when Frank suddenly sprang forward, fist soaring at Chad's abdomen.

At first, Chad thought it had just been a painfully brutal punch. I was only upon looking down and seeing the glint of Frank's blade as it was pulled from his flesh, that he realised the full extent of his injury.

"That." Frank whispered. He calmly wiped the blade on his sleeve and slipped it into his pocket. "Did you see _that _coming?"

Chad was in a state of shock. Strangely, he could not yet feel any pain. He wondered if maybe he'd imagined the knife, maybe Frank hadn't stabbed him after all. And then came the blood; pouring heavily from a wound that couldn't be seen, appearing out of nowhere and bringing with it pain.

An agonised moan came from Chad as a white hot fire of pain tore its way through his mid-section. He felt like his organs were on fire and his blood was corrosive acid. His insides were somersaulting and being stretched inside-out. He couldn't breathe as that only resulted in more unbearable pain.

Frank watched on, as intrigued as Chad was horrified. A small smile formed on his lips when, without warning, Chad's legs buckled beneath him leaving him lying on the cold tile floor.

He replaced his smile with an unconvincingly fake look of sympathy. Even in so much incomprehensible agony crowding his thoughts, Chad wanted so much to scream, curse and kick out at Frank. Unfortunately, he could do none of the above.

"Well my friend." Frank sighed, looking theatrically at his watch. "I really must get going. It's been good though hasn't it? We should do it gain some time."

Frank stepped carefully over Chad and strode out of the room without a care in the world as if he hadn't just stabbed someone.

Something inside Chad wanted Frank to stay. The last thing he wanted was to be alone; to die slowly all by himself.

He tried to move but could only make the smallest of movements without causing himself a great deal of pain. He lay on his side, facing the door in the hopes that someone would come to his rescue like he had Gabriella's. Insecure and afraid, he wrapped his arms around himself, resting his head on the floor. He could only watch as the pool of blood forming on the floor beneath him grew bigger. There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to die there that day. He wasn't so much scared as he was disappointed.

He hadn't done much with his life. He hadn't made up with his friends, hadn't got Taylor back. He was dying without any friends to care that he was gone. And he'd always wanted to go heroically; to take a bullet for someone like his dad had done for him- or something like that. But here he was on the floor of the ladies bathroom, pathetic, alone and dying without dignity.

His chest was heavy. His breaths were becoming increasingly harder to take in. He struggled to keep his eyes open.

You could say that Sharpay's vanity had save Chad's life for, if she hadn't ventured into the bathroom to ceck out her reflection and found Chad in there in a near-death state, he would have given in, shut his eyes and slipped away.

She thought he was dead. When she walked in there and saw him deathly still with his body covered and surrounded by blood and his eyes open wide unnaturally glazed, she thought she had found a corpse.

You never know how you'll act in a situation like that until it actually happens. You might say you'll do one thing or you'll do another but when it gets down to it shock or pre adrenaline takes over.

Sharpay surprised herself. Rather than run far away screaming and making a drama, she carefully assessed the situation. Not touching anything or moving from where she stood, she took her cell phone from her pocked and dialled 911.

It was only as she waited for someone to answer and Chad blinked that her calm and sensible demeanour completely fell apart.

Until now, she'd thought he was dead. And, for some reason, _that_ she could deal with. But Chad just moved; blinked, and as far as she knew, dead bodies didn't do that. So blinking…. That was like coming back from the dead! Except h still looked dead. And he made no further movements.

Sharpay began to consider the possibility she may have imagined it. She started to question her sanity. Her breathing became quick. Her eyes darted around with paranoia. He hands shook with fear. The phone that remained held at her ear continued to ring. No-one was picking up.

"Ch-Chad?" She whispered, timid and child-like. A small gasp escaped her lips as Chad groaned in response.

Her mind was racing. She didn't know what to do. She hung up the phone and dialled again, hoping that this time someone would pick up. Then, she ran to Chad and kneeled beside him.

"You're alive!" She beamed, touching his clammy face as if to check he was really real. A tiny, almost non-existent smile appeared on Chad's face. Even now, Sharpay was bubbly and energetic as ever, and still making the kind of daft comments that made her who she was.

She let her eyes fall over Chad's body; his trembling form, the light sheen of sweat that covered his skin, the massive amount of blood and his tortured, life-less eyes. She felt sick. And she didn't know what to do. It was taking forever to get through to the ambulance\service and she was growing worried that they wouldn't make it in time. Chad wasn't going to make it if he had to wait much longer. He was having a hard enough time trying to keep his eyes open.

Sharpay knew that she had to keep him talking. Otherwise, he would shut his eyes and may never open them again.

"So, Chad," She tried to make conversation but had no idea what to say. Well, there was one thing she wanted to ask but she wasn't sure if it would be appropriate. On the other hand, she was Sharpay Evans, she could say whatever she wanted to. "What happened to you?" She asked. He looked at her and then at the ceiling. She could tell she was making him uncomfortable and wanted to stop but had to ask; "Who did this?"

She'd been trying to avoid it, but Chad had been stabbed and there was no way he had done it to himself. He could die and then that would be murder. She had to know who had done it, just in case he died before he could tell the police.

Chad's lip quivered. He didn't take his eyes off the ceiling. He didn't say a word. Sharpay didn't want to pressure him. It was obviously not something he wanted to talk about. Ashamed of her forwardness, she looked down at the floor and noticed the blood pool was still growing. Chad was still bleeding.

"Hold on a sec, okay?" She said about to get up. Chad grabbed her hand which rested on the floor beside him. She looked at it and then her eyes net with his.

"Don't leave me." He whispered. Sharpay had never seen him so vulnerable. It was worrying. And the innocence and fear in his voice tore her heart in two.

"I'm not going anywhere." She assured him placing a hand on top of his (which still rested on hers). "Just going to the sink okay?"

Chad hesitated a moment before letting go of her hand and allowing her to get to her feet. She walked to the sink and started to rip sheet after sheet of paper towels out of the dispenser before just tearing the plastic covering off the front and taking the whole lot.

She got back to her previous position knelt beside Chad and prepared to apply the cluster of towels that she held in her hands to his blood soaked abdomen. She couldn't do it. Her hands hovered over their destination as she was too afraid to touch his gaping wound and hurt him further.

"What are you doing?" Chad said softly. His breathing was ragged and uneven. He was getting worse.

"I have to…" Sharpay tried to explain, unable to look him in the eye. "I have to, uh, apply pressure to stop it bleeding." She looked at the paper towels in her hands and grimaced uncomfortably.

"I know that," Chad said, pausing when a shiver ran through his body. He exhaled shakily and continued. "I meant, why aren't you doing it?"

Sharpay finally looked him in the eye. "I'm scared." She admitted. "Of hurting you. And what if it doesn't help? It's not gonna be effective just 'cos they do it on ER!"

Chad chuckled lightly, then winced regretting the movement. "It'll work." He said. "Do it."

Sharpay needed no further encouragement. She took in a deep breath and pressed one of her towel-filled hands onto Chad's stomach.

His hissed and squeezed his eyes shut. Sharpay shut her eyes too. She tried to blank out what was going on. She didn't want to see the hurt on Chad's face.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, her eyes still shut.

"'S… 's okay…" Chad stammered.

On the floor beside her, Sharpay's phone beeped to notify her that her call had finally been connected. She grabbed it with her free hand and was overwhelmed with relief when she heard;

_"911, what's your emergency?" _

She explained the situation and their location. The woman on the other end told her to hang on and that help was on it's way. After hanging up, she placed her phone back on the floor watching it light up and turn off.

"They're coming, Chad!" She giggled. "You're gonna be okay."

Chad didn't answer.

Her gaze shot tpwards him with concern. In all her time on the phone, she hadn't realised him slowly deteriourating; his skin getting paler, his eyes becoming more glazed, breathing more ragged. He now looked like he was at deaths door. He may already have been past that point.

" Chad!" She said louder, waving her hand in front of his face.

He blinked. Much to her relief.

"Don't do that!" She scolded. She would have said more had the fire alarm not suddenly gone off making her jump.

"Wassat?" Chad asked groggily.

"Fire alarm."

"You… should get out… of h-here." He told her.

Sharpay laughed, genuine but half-heartedly. "And leave you here?" She exclaimed. "I don't think so."

Chad smiled sadly and Sharpay returned the same sad smile. His body was shaking almost non-stop now.

"Sh-Shar…?" He shivered. "Why's-s-s-it so c-cold?"

The stuffy room was far from cold.

"It's just the air-conditioning." Sharpay lied.

"Shar?" He said again. She waited for him to go on. "If I… d-die…" A tear slid down his cheek and, though it blended with his sweat, Sharpay saw it.

"You're not dying." She said confidently before he could continue.

"Shar…"

"No," she said. "I'm serious. There's no way you're dying. If you die, how am I gonna get the $198 that you owe me to replace these jeans." She joked, managing a weary smile from Chad. "I mean, look at them. They're ruined!"

Chad's smile sank as his body was wracked with awful coughs. When finished, he could taste blood in his mouth.

His fingers, arms and legs were tingling. He felt both hot and cold at the same time. He couldn't see himself recovering from this. He was glad though, to have spent his final moments with the ever-witty Sharpay Evans.

"Thanks, Sharpay." He said, trying his hardest to keep his voice strong.

"For what?" She smiled.

"You've been good to me." He answered before shutting his eyes and letting the merciless darkness consume him.

* * *

**_xX M Xx_**


	13. 12

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**12. **

People handle bad news in different ways. Some people completely break down, others cope and deal with it and some remain in complete and utter denial.

"I don't know why you're crying, Taylor. This old woman is obviously crazy. She has no idea what she's talking about." Troy told an inconsolable Taylor as Gabriella tried to get more information from the woman. 

Taylor had known something was wrong from the moment Chad hadn't shown up at the park. He was dying. She couldn't forget that the last thing she had said to him was that she never wanted to speak to him again. She thought now that maybe fate was playing a cruel joke and ensuring her wish came true.

Gabriella returned from the old lady's porch with more details.

"He's at Albuquerque General Hospital." She recalled what the woman had told her. Troy rolled his eyes. "It's not far from here. We could walk."

Troy was about to say something but Gabriella stopped him with a warning finger. _'Don't' _she mouthed. Troy looked unimpressed.

Gabriella wiped a tear from Taylor's face. "You gonna be okay?" She asked.

Taylor nodded and sniffed. "Let's go." She said, leading the way.

They arrived at the hospital entrance within twenty minutes of setting off. Troy was fed up with wasting his day off on what he thought was a wild goose chase, He was convinced that Chad would be at school the next day laughing at them for believing the nonsense of his neighbour 'Mad Mary'. He made his views well known throughout the course of the journey. When they had arrived, Taylor had had enough.

"Shut!" She yelled as Troy went off on another rant. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes and she was visibly shaking. "If you don't want to be here, go home! " Troy shut his mouth. Gabriella gave him a scolding look before pulling her best friends into her arms as Taylor began to sob.

"What if he dies?" Taylor whispered into Gabriella's shoulder. "What if he's already…?" She allowed herself to trail off not wanting those thoughts in her mind.

"He's not dead." Gabriella said confidently.

Taylor wriggled free of her friends embrace to look her in the eye before saying; "How can you be so sure?"

"I just know." Gabriella said simply. "And I know he won't die."

Taylor just nodded, trying to make herself believe it.

"We'd better get in there." Gabriella said looking as the hospital building before turning to Troy who had his arms crossed in front of him and a stubborn pout on his lips.

Gabriella, and even Taylor, understood that Troy was in denial. It was clear that he didn't want to believe that his friend was hurt so he refused to do so. It was obvious he wanted to block out the entire situation. But his attitude wasn't making this already unbearable time any easier.

He hesitated now as Taylor and Gabriella entered the hospital but followed when Gabriella beckoned him with a wave of her hand.

Taylor was already at the reception desk and had requested access to Chad's room. The receptionist eyed her suspiciously. Her eyes flickered to Troy and Gabriella who stood behind Taylor and then she looked back at Taylor.

"You family?" She asked while chewing fiercely on some pink gum.

"I'm his girlfriend." Taylor answered, despising the woman's lazy and careless attitude.

The receptionist; whose nametag read Jacqui, looked unsurprised as if expecting this answer. "I'm afraid only family-."

"Please." Taylor cut her off before she could finish.

Jacqui was less than impressed. She raised her eyebrows and slowly shook her head. "No." She said simply. "If you're not family you're not permitted to-."

"I'm family." It was Troy's turn to interrupt this time. Jacqui looked at him as if he had grown an extra head but Troy continued. "We're brothers." Maybe he was staring to believe that this stabbing business could be true.

"Really?" She asked sarcastically.

Troy huffed. "Close enough, yeah."

Jacqui snarled at the group and looked around at the reception that surrounded them as if wanting a major accident to cut this tedious conversation short. Today though, she had no such luck.

"Listen kids," She said, growing sour. "It's not gonna happen, okay? So just get back on your tricycles- or however the hell you got here- and go home."

The three stayed put, not moving, mot even changing their facial expressions in reaction to her harsh and inconvenient words.

"You haven't found his family yet, have you?" Gabriella asked calmly, more of a statement than a question. Jacqui's face softened a little. She listened but said nothing. "You haven't been able to contact them. And you won't." Jacqui frowned. " Chad's family," Gabriella explained. "Is non-existent. We're all he's got. _We _are his family."

Jacqui pursed her lips as she thought for a moment. She sighed. "He's on the fifth floor in the Intensive Care Unit." They weren't sure if she was telling them this to get rid of them or because she was finally showing a little humanity. "I can't guarantee they'll let you in though. It's a police investigation after all. They can't just have people wandering in and out. And they can never be too careful…"

She pointed out the elevator to them and they thanked her graciously.

When the elevator doors closed on them, the floodgates opened. The realisation that they were so close to seeing a dying friend was almost too much to handle.

Taylor walked to the back of the small cramped elevator with her back to her friends and her hands against the mirrored wall in front of her to keep her balance. She exhaled silently and shut her eyes.

_The lift beeped. It had reached the second floor. _

Gabriella was biting down on her bottom lip so hard she could faintly taste blood. She felt sick. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest it was almost vibrating. She too closed her eyes.

_The lift beeped. It had reached the third floor# _

Troy had put his hands in his pockets to conceal their uncontrollable trembling. He found his pocket felt strangely empty without the presence on the knife that had grown so accustomed to it. His eyes were on the doors in front of him. The doors he wished would never open.

_The lift beeped. They had reached the fourth floor. _

"This is real isn't it?" Troy asked quietly. It could have been rhetorical. Whether it was or not, it wasn't answered. They were trying to tell themselves the exact opposite.

There was a final ding and the doors slid open, leading to a bright, sterile-smelling hallway, much like the one at school.

They all stepped out and looked from left to right to take in their surroundings. It was empty beside two heavily armed security guards at one far end and a girl hunched in one of the three chairs beside them. The girl, of course, hunched over with her elbows on her knees and head in her hands, was Sharpay Evans.

Standing outside of the elevator in the centre of the hallway, unmoving, confused and surprised, Troy was the first to speak.

"Is that…" He began. "Sharpay." Gabriella finished.

Taylor began to walk in Sharpay's direction, guessing that that was where Chad's room was. Gabriella stopped her.

"Wait" She said and Taylor looked at her inquisitively.

"What?"

Gabriella looked through Taylor at the guards then sighed. "Let's not kid ourselves." She said. "We all know who did this. The police are right there." She paused. "I say it's about time we told someone of authority what's been going on because, as far as I'm concerned, Frank's gone too far this time."

Taylor nodded in agreement not really bothered about anything but seeing her boyfriend right now.

Troy also nodded. "I'll talk to them." He said as he and Gabriella followed a hasty Taylor who was approaching the guards and Sharpay.

Sharpay looked up as they approached having heard them coming. Her eyes were red from crying and her face looked strangely different without makeup. A relieved smile appeared in her face as her eyes met with theirs.

Gabriella took as seat next to her and Taylor and Troy stood in front of them. The two guards watched them closely and warily.

"I wondered when you guys would get here." Sharpay told the.

"Sharpay," Troy said, barely hearing her statement. "What are you doing here?"

It was a fair question and they were all thinking it. Firstly, how did Sharpay know about this before they did? Secondly, why would the receptionist tlet her, and not them, up to see him. And also, she didn't even like Chad. Yet here she was in tears, clearly very upset about the whole matter.

She looked blankly at the floor as if miles away. He mind flashed back to the day before; the blood, the agonising wait for the paramedics to arrive after Chad had passed out and the frantic journey to the hospital.

"I was there." She whispered. "I found him."

"Is he okay?"

"Where is he?"

Sharpay shrugged. "He's in there." She pointed to the door between the guards. "He's only just come out of surgery. They won't let me see him. They won't even tell me what's wrong…"

Taylor could take no more waiting. She walked over to the guards and demanded she be let in to see her boyfriend. Troy appeared behind her and politely requested the same. Gabriella stayed beside Sharpay to comfort the clearly traumatised girl.

"Sorry, kids." Said the taller of the guards. "No-ones allowed in but family 'til we fid whoever did this." He narrowed his eyes at Try. "For all we know, it could be you. You could be here to finish the job."

Troy shook his head. "No! No, it wasn't me." He assured them. " Chad's my best friend. I didn't do it." He thought for a second. "But I know who did."

The other guard perked up. "Is that so?" He asked with intrigue.

"Yes," Troy confirmed. "And I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything you want to know if you just let us see him."

The guards exchanged glances, silently debating what to do. Finally, the taller one nodded.

"Alright." He said.

"But only her." Said the other pointing at Taylor. "And I'll be watching.

"You stay here." The other spoke again to Troy. "And tell me everything."

Troy was disappointed but at the same time glad he'd gotten half of what he wanted. He watched Taylor enter the room, the guard follow and the door close behind them, then turned to the other guard who promptly spoke;

"Start," he demanded. "From the very beginning."

* * *

**_xX M Xx_**


	14. 13

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**

* * *

13.**

"It started at the beginning of the school year." Gabriella explained to a quizzical Sharpay. "Frank would… call us names or insult us or… whatever."

Sharpay raised a hand. "Wait," she said. "You mean Frank Morrison? In our class? You think he did this?"

As if there could be no other possibilities, Gabriella nodded with certainty. "I _know _he did this." She confirmed.

Sharpay's mouth hung open with shock. She known Frank was bad, but this…

Gabriella continued. "He's been threatening to do this since day one. We just never took it seriously."

"Threatening to stab Chad?" Sharpay asked.

"Threatening to _kill _all of us."

Sharpay was silent for a moment, surprised all this could be happening without anyone knowing.

"But why didn't you tell anyone?" she wondered.

Gabriella shrugged. "We did. _I _did. I told Mr. Matsui everything."

"And…?"

Gabriella frowned. "And things only got worse."

"Oh." said Sharpay, sensing that Gabriella didn't want to talk about that. She could see the guilt in her eyes and knew to delve no further.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Gabriella asked out of the blue, catching Sharpay off guard.

She sighed. "I'd love to say yes…"

"But?"

"But you didn't see him. All that… all that blood. You didn't see…" A tear fell down Sharpay's cheek and she brushed it away fiercely. A sad chuckle escaped her lips and she shook her head. "What was he even doing there in the first place?" she asked herself.

"Doing where?"

Sharpay raised her eyebrows, giving her best _'you wont believe this' _smirk. "The girls bathroom. "She answered.

Gabriella gasped a little as the pieces fell into place. Now it made sense. Her mysterious yet familiar saviour, the reason Frank never came after her when she fled. He was too busy trying to kill Chad.

Sharpay heard Gabriella's gasp and saw the utter anguish in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Chad was in the girls bathroom…" she said shakily and as if in a trance.

"Yeah?" _Big deal, _Sharpay thought.

"He was there to protect me. Chad was stabbed for defending me."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

"And what about you?" asked the guard who had introduced himself as Officer Samuel Watson, here voluntarily from the Albuquerque Police Department. He was going through Troy's story, asking questions about every single detail.

Troy was tired and it seemed like he'd told this same story about five times in twenty minutes. His mind kept wandering to the fact that, behind the door he stood so close to, his best friend could be taking his last breaths.

When he realised he had been asked a question, he widened his eyes, alert again. "Huh?"

"You say Chad punched Frank for attacking his girlfriend. Did _you _ever fight back?"

"Listen, officer-."

"Call me Sam."

"Sam," Troy corrected himself. "Is that really relevant right now? Frank has hurt us every single day for months. If not verbally then physically. If not physically then mentally. I mean, check out all that hate-mail in Chad's room. It's sick. And it's been going on for too long."

"Yeah, we've seen the post-its." Said Sam. "It's pretty…horrific."

Troy nodded. "So, enough with the questions. Please, just get out there and find that sicko."

"Don't worry," Sam assured. "We will."

"I hope so." Troy muttered before looking around at Gabriella who sat deep in conversation with a tearstained Sharpay. He wondered how he'd react if she had been stabbed by Frank. He couldn't bear the thought. He couldn't even imagine what Taylor must have been going through.

If he was ever caught, Troy didn't want Frank to be locked up in prison. That, in Troy's eyes, was too easy. Too pleasant. Frank deserved to suffer; feel the physical trauma that they had endured at his hand. Then _he _should be stabbed and left for dead.

What with karma and all. What goes around should come around.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

The first thing Taylor noticed upon entering Chad's room was him. So small and still in the huge bed, covered in white sheets and among the jubilee of various machines that surrounded him. So silent within the beeping and whirring of contraptions and monitors so alien they seemed to be straight out of some sci-fi movie.

She hesitated, apprehensive to get any closer as, even at such a distant glance, he looked so dreadful.

His skin was as pale as his complexion would allow and his entire body was riddled with tubes and wires that ran from his arms, chest and mouth. Most of his face was covered with a mask that was hooked up to a machine behind him and appeared to be pumping his lungs with air. If it wasn't for all of this, he would have looked peaceful, as if in sleep.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the guard behind her speaking.

"You don't have long." He told her, not intending to sound so blunt. He felt for this poor girl and it wasn't right that anyone, especially not kids this young, should be hurt like this. But, the truth was, there shouldn't even have been visitors up there. If anything happened now, he'd be in deep trouble.

Taylor nodded and walked over to Chad's bed, sitting in the seat beside it. The guard remained by the door to allow her some privacy.

Taylor didn't know what to say. She wanted to say something, let him know she was there, but nothing came to mind. She wasn't even sure if he'd hear her, and how stupid would she feel then. She wasn't even sure if he'd _want _to hear her.

She didn't reach out to touch him, knowing he'd be cold and limp. She didn't even look at him, instead taking assurance in the heart monitor beside him, watching the line wiggle in a way that let her know his heart was beating and listening to it beep every beat of his heart.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, half expecting him to open his eyes and retort sarcastically in his usual way. He didn't. So she continued. "This isn't you. Not _my _Chad." She stopped, realising that, even now as he lay dying, she was slating him for it. She wondered sometimes why he put up with her often disdainful attitude. He could do so much better.

"You know, I don't know what I'd do without you." She admitted. "I don't think I would ever be happy again if you…." She stopped. "Oh Chad! Just say something." She begged. "_Do _something. Anything! Just let me know you can hear me."

Now, if what happened next was Chad showing Taylor he could hear her, he chose a lousy way of doing it. All of a sudden, the steady zigzag motion of the heart monitor Taylor had been watching, and the rhythmic beeps of his beating heart, stopped. The line was flat and a single long bell rang through the air. You didn't have to be a medical expert to know what was happening. Chad's heart had stopped. And that was never good news.

Taylor gasped and sprang up from the chair away from Chad, convinced that her words had done this.

The guard clearly shared her assumption as he barked; "What did you do?!"

One of Taylor's hands was clasped over her open mouth as the other ran frantically through her hair. She didn't know what to do.

A team of doctors and nurses ran in. They brushed her aside and got to work on Chad. Their hands moved quickly and mechanically over his body as though they had done this a thousand times before. Few words were spoken as they each did their separate duties.

"What's going on?" Taylor asked, although she knew the answer. She needed confirmation. Chad's heart had stopped beating. Technically, he was already dead.

A nurse spared a second to glance at the guard. "Get that girl out of here." She ordered before continuing with her complicated resuscitation task.

The guard gladly complied. He had kids of his own and didn't much want to stay and watch this one die with his girlfriend watching. He took her arm.

"Come on." He began to lead her to the door but Taylor shook free and returned to where she previously stood.

"You don't want to see this." He told her, this time more softly, sensitively taking her hand.

"Come on." He repeated. This time she followed, not taking her eyes off Chad until the door was shut behind them.

An agonising wait followed. In the corridor, Taylor paced relentlessly, Troy bit at his fingernails so ravenously that- if not stopped soon- he would surely gnaw of his finger tips, Sharpay wrapped her arms around herself and rocked backwards and forwards in her seat, Gabriella counted every second that ticked by on the clock and even the guards looked anxious.

Finally, a doctor emerged from the room looking worn and tired. She regarded the group of expectant faces that surrounded her and began a speech that she had been through many times before.

"We did all we could." She said.

Bile rose in Troy's throat. A shudder ran down Taylor's spine.

"I'm afraid we couldn't get Mr. Danforth breathing again."

**A/N: **Don't kill me! (I have plans)


	15. 14

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

"I'm afraid we couldn't get Mr. Danforth breathing again."

**A/N: **Don't kill me! (I have plans…)

**14. **

Gabriella shook her head; not wanting to hear what she thought was coming. Sharpay shut her eyes.

"You mean he's… dead?" Taylor asked apprehensively, the words sounding so alien to her.

Much to everyone's dismay, the doctor looked at her and nodded.

Taylor's legs almost gave out and she had to hold onto the nearest wall to keep herself from collapsing. Troy grabbed his head in his hands and quietly uttered the word; 'no'. A gasp escaped from Gabriella.

"Technically anyway." The doctor added.

A glimmer of hope appeared. Sharpay opened her eyes.

"What do you mean 'technically'?" She asked.

"We have him wired up to various machines that'll keep his heart beating and his lungs being filled with air; life support. Until we can locate his family and they consent to him being taken off it."

"So… he's alive?" Asked a confused but hopeful Gabriella.

The doctor shook her head. "His body is alive. But his brain is dead. Your friend is dead." She told them less than sympathetically.

"But he could still wake up right? You hear about it all the time… miracles and that."

"Highly unlikely." She dismissed. "What with the extensive blood loss, punctured lung, probable brain damage due to lack of oxygen… I hate to say it but, he's got no chance."

The harsh reality delivered with such blunt force proved a bit too much for Troy to handle. His stomach lurched and he felt more bile rising his throat. Holding his mouth to stop the vomit escaping all over the place, he ran to the closest room and was thankful for it to be a restroom. He practically threw himself at the toilet and hung his head over the bowl, spilling the contents of his stomach in a less than graceful manner. In between the painful retching and disgusting spewing, he allowed and anguished sob to leave his lips.

He wished it was him that was stabbed, instead of Chad.

Troy wasn't the only one badly affected by the news. In fact, they all were. Only not all of them showed it.

Taylor could not hide her upset. She could not control the whirlwind of emotions that swirled recklessly through her. Her mind was so overcome with tragedy, it must have forgotten her legs for a moments as they crumpled beneath her. She was already holding the wall for support which prolonged her imminent impact with the floor, long enough for Gabriella to see she was slipping, spring up form her chair and grab her before she could fall into a heap of grief on the ground.

Taylor accepted the support and silently allowed herself to be led to a chair and sat in it. She could vaguely hear Gabriella and Sharpay telling her to breathe, relax, but other than that there was nothing but her thoughts. She was numb.

She'd been crying so long that her ducts had long since run out of tears, but that didn't stop her from weeping quietly.

Sharpay sat next to her stroking her back and Gabriella knelt in front of her holding her hand.

Sharpay noticed that Gabriella looked distant; obviously concerned about the state of her best friend but also worrying about her boyfriend who had run away. She was torn between the two.. Taylor was struck with grief and needed all the support she could get, but Troy was alone right now. He'd lost his brother. But maybe isolation was what he wanted. Maybe not.

"Go." Sharpay told her, making a hard decision for her. "Find him. I'll stay here with Taylor."

Gabriella thanked Sharpay and followed Troy through the door he had fled through.

Memories flooded back as she realised where she was. The bathroom was much different to the one at school, but still reminded her of the confrontation she had had with Frank, even more significant now that she knew what happened after she escaped. Her voice was shaky when she spoke.

"T-Troy?"

To her relief, Troy replied. "I'm in here." He called from the nearest cubicle. Gabriella followed his voice and found him sitting on the floor beside a toilet looking shamefully at his feet. She sat beside him and embraced him with an arm around his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" A stupid question, but she had to ask. She cared.

Troy shrugged. His gaze remained fixed on the floor.

"The doctor says we have to leave soon," Gabriella told him. "So if you want to see him-."

"No."

"What?" Gabriella asked, surprised and unsure if she had heard correctly.

"I don't want to see him." Troy stated.

Gabriella sighed. "Troy," she said softly as if talking to a small child. "This could be your last chance to talk to him."

Troy flinched.

"I know you're scared alright." Gabriella continued. "We all are. But imagine how scared Chad feels right now. Confused and alone and in pain…"

"He can't feel anything." Troy spat. "He's dead."

"You and I both know Chad won't go without a fight." Gabriella said. "He'll overcome this if he just has our support."

Troy's eyes flickered from the floor to Gabriella and to the floor again. He nodded slightly.

"Okay." He muttered.

Gabriella stood and held out a hand to him. "Come on then." She said. He took her hand and she pulled him to his feet.

"Do you mind if I go alone?" Troy asked as they exited the room.

Of course Gabriella minded. She wanted to see Chad too. But she understood that Chad meant more to Troy than anyone else. She respected that.

"Sure. Do you want me to wait here?" She asked.

The doctor and both Taylor and Sharpay had left. Only the guards remained.

"Nah," said Troy. "You go home. I'll call you."

Gabriella nodded, quite pleased as she was emotionally drained and just wanted to go home and sleep. She gave Troy a hug and a peck on the cheek with a new appreciation of his existence the feel of his warm, soft skin against her lips.

Troy was allowed in straight away this time. The guards knew he wasn't a threat. He walked to his friend's bedside but did not sit.

"This is all wrong man." He said, hating the sound of his own voice against the silent background. "I didn't realise you were suffering so much. I'm sorry."

Chad didn't move. Obviously. But he wasn't dead. It was weird, Troy had never believed in that sort of stuff, but he could still feel Chad's energy. There was still life there. The doctors were wrong.

In a sort of sick way, Troy wished they would never find Chad's mum. Then they could never switch the machines off and he would live forever. He would get better. Wake up, even.

"I get that you're resting," said Troy. "And I know you're recovering and all that. But do it quickly, okay? Wake up soon."

**_xX M Xx_**


	16. 15

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**A/N: **SO sorry it's taken so long. I've been offline for ages now. I'll probably upload a couple more chapters to make up for the wait. Sorry again for taking so long. Enjoy!

15. 

And that was that. Every day from then on, Troy would visit Chad. Sometimes with Gabriella, sometimes even Sharpay would come and even the entire Wildcat team on one occasion. But most of the time, just Troy.

He took a day off school to get his head straight and then returned, hoping things wouldn't be too different. Hoping things would still be normal. They weren't.

He was stared at, whispered about, pointed at, all within seconds of walking through the school doors.

"That's the boy whose best friend got murdered."

"Isn't it sad…"

"I heard, Bolton did it!" 

And everything at school reminded him of Chad. Every hour he wasn't at Chad's bedside, he was thinking about being at Chad's bedside. What if he woke up while, he was away? What if…?

Chad's mother still hadn't been located. People were starting to wonder if she was really away on business or if she was gone for good. The doctors were discussing pulling the plug without consent. Chad wasn't getting any better and frankly, he was a waste of space and hospital resources.

Troy didn't go to basketball anymore. There was no point when Chad wasn't there to have his back. His relationship with Gabriella had been put on ice. He appreciated her understanding and acceptance of the fact that he just had too much on his mind to be focusing on his girlfriend too.

And that was that. Taylor McKessie became a ghost of the girl she had once been. She barely spoke, never smiled and did nothing but school work and homework. I her free time she read and attempted to sleep.

She never visited Chad. Not once. Not because she didn't want to. She wanted to. But because of what had happened last time. She had stopped his heart. She had killed him. She wouldn't risk doing that again.

Gabriella tried talking to her but words meant nothing. Words couldn't change the way she felt. There was an empty space in her that would never be filled again.

Part of her wanted Chad to die. So that she could begin mourning properly. This 'life support' was only prolonging the inevitable, giving the naïve false hope and making the whole thing all the more painful.

People were scared for her and she knew it. She could feel their concerned gazes burning holes in her, there worried whispers behind her back. They thought she'd lost it. Like she was going through a total mental breakdown or something. Like she was fragile. Close to breaking. Close to cracking.

And she knew they were probably right.

And that was that. Gabriella was completely forgotten. Neglected.

So what if it was selfish of her to think so and to crave attention. Of course Chad was more important than her right now and se wasn't arguing with that. Of course HE deserved attention. But she was hurting too. What about her

She needed support. She was tired of being the rock. For once, she wanted reassurance. She wanted hugs and kisses and a shoulder to cry on. She wanted to be told that everything would be alright.

Troy told her he couldn't be with her right now even though he still needed her to be there for him. Taylor, the best friend she could usually confide in, had become an emotionless robot incapable of feeling or speaking.

Gabriella had never felt so isolated. So alone. She had always been there for her best friend and boyfriend. Where were they now that she needed them?

They were gone. They were different. They were messed up.

The whole thing was messed up.

And that, as you can guess, was that...

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and in a way things were getting better. Chad's condition hadn't improved and Frank was yet to be found but the shock was gone and they were beginning to adjust.

Troy still visited daily and it was on one of his visits that he stumbled upon Rosario; a middle-aged nurse whose only job it seemed was to sit in Chad's room and watch him. Close observation she called it. Rosario was good company. Nice to talk to when Chad made no response to Troy's conversations. She was always smiling too, which must have been hard with her job of watching people die.

On this particular day however, Rosario wasn't smiling when Troy entered Chad's hospital room.

Her brow was furrowed with both distress and deep concentration as she peered at the chart in her hands. She looked up as Troy as he came in but looked away uncomfortably. Troy came to stand next to her at the foot of Chad's bed and read the medical jargon on the chart that she held.

"What's wrong Rosie?" he asked her.

She pointed to a paragraph of complicated words and nonsense near the bottom of the page. "Do you know what this means?" She asked.

Troy read the words and shook his head.

"It means Chad has run out of time." She explained. "The doctors no longer need consent to switch off the life support machine. He's been on it for too long with no sign of recovery.

Troy was more disappointed than anything. All this time he had expected Chad to fight and get better. But he had done nothing. He had proved the doctors right.

"I'm sorry, Troy." Rosario said, patting Troy on the shoulder.

"When'll they do it" Troy asked.

"As soon as I tell them they can."

Troy stared deep into Rosie's eyes and pleaded with all his might. "Then don't tell them!" He begged. "Oh, Rosie. Please, don't!"

She sighed. "I have to, Troy. You know that. It's my job." She tried to detach herself from the personal side of the situation. She couldn't allow her medical education to be compromised by personal feelings. The truth was though, that she had grown so close to Troy and even Chad within the past couple of months and her heart ached for both of them.

She shook her head. "Okay, listen." She said. Troy did so intently. "I'll give you a day. Any more than that and I risk getting found out. Tomorrow, at five on the dot, I will tell them. So, if you and your friends want to say your goodbyes, you have until then."

"Thank you."

Gabriella thought it was a miracle that night when Troy called her. She thought that maybe he was ready to continue with their relationship or maybe Chad had woken up.

"It's good to hear your voice." Was the first thing Troy said to her after she picked up the phone. "I've missed you."

Gabriella smiled. "Same here."

"I need you." He continued. "I didn't realise it before now. I thought that if I focused on Chad and visited him everyday, he would get better and in order to spend all my time with him, I wouldn't be able to spend time with you."

Gabriella could think of nothing to say but; "Yeah." Troy was finally pouring his heart out. She'd been waiting patiently for him to come back to her.

"But I messed up, Gabriella. I was wrong." He said. "Chad hasn't got better and in the process, I've lost you and you've had to go through this alone."

A lump grew in Gabriella's throat. She felt like crying and wasn't really sure why. A weight was lifted from her shoulders. Finally, some acknowledgement.

But Troy quickly changed the subject. "They're ending it tomorrow." He said. "Switching off the life support."

Gabriella didn't think this day would ever come. The thought had never occurred to her that they would just give up hope and end it. "Wow." She breathed. She was speechless. "I guess we should visit him tomorrow then." She decided. "To say goodbye."

"Yeah." Troy agreed. "And, one other thing. I need you to persuade Taylor to come too."

**_xX M Xx_**


	17. 16

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

* * *

**16. **

"Where've you been?" Gabriella asked Taylor at school the next day. They were in the empty gym after school. Gabriella had only just found Taylor there after a long time of searching.

Taylor looked up with surprise as Gabriella approached her. She hadn't heard her arrive and was shocked to see her friend coming towards her.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked calmly.

Gabriella took a seat on the bench next to Taylor. "You know what I mean." She said but in case Taylor didn't know, she continued. "I never see you anymore. You come to school and you go home. That's it."

Taylor looked down at her hands which lay in her lap. "Well… you know…" She sighed.

"No!" Gabriella said loudly. Her shout echoed throughout the gym but Taylor didn't even look up. "I don't know. I don't know anything. You haven't told me. We don't even talk anymore!"

Taylor simply shrugged and began picking at her fingernails. "What's to talk about?" She mumbled.

Gabriella laughed with anguish, defeat and disbelief. "Well, let's see…" she began sarcastically. "For starters, your boyfriend was stabbed. He's practically dead and you act like he never existed."

Taylor stood up abruptly. "I don't have time for this." She said, trying to get past Gabriella to the exit.

Gabriella wouldn't let her go. She too stood and got closer to her friend than they had been in months. "You haven't been to see him." She hissed. Taylor tried to look away but Gabriella's face was so close to hers, there wasn't much else to see. "Not even once."

With defeat, knowing she couldn't get past Gabriella, Taylor turned her back to her and walked a few paces in the other direction.

"He needs you, Tay." Gabriella continued although Taylor's back was to her.

Taylor shook her head.

"You can't keep pretending this isn't real, Taylor. He needs you."

"Stop it!" Taylor demanded, her voice cracking with emotion.

"No." Gabriella said simply. "You can't run from this anymore."

She could see Taylor shivering and was surprised when her friend turned around with red eyes and damp cheeks.

"I don't know what to do." Taylor cried. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she stood trembling in front of Gabriella.

Gabriella opened her arms and Taylor gladly walked into her embrace. She felt more at ease then she had for a long time as Gabriella stroked her hair and whispered in her ear that everything would get better in time. After a little while, a time-conscious Gabriella broke apart from the hug. They didn't have long until the machine was turned off.

Taylor wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"They're turning off his life support." Gabriella said.

Taylor sniffed but did not react. She knew that was coming.

"We'd better say goodbye then." She said.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

By the time they got to the hospital, it was already 4:45. Troy was there waiting. He didn't greet them as they entered Chad's room. He was trying hard to savour his final moments with his best friend.

Taylor hadn't seen Chad in a long time. He was thinner than before and his hair was longer and tangled. Other than that though, he was same old sleeping Chad.

Gabriella placed a hand on the small of Taylor's back. "Go on." She whispered.

Taylor shuffled nervously towards Chad's bed. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the courage to say goodbye.

"Do you want to be alone with him?" Gabriella asked. Troy, who sat in a chair in the corner of the room, looked at Taylor expectantly for an answer. She shook her head.

Turning her attention back to Chad, Taylor tried to absorb all the things about him that she never wanted to forget. There were so many things. Like his bright smile of sparkling eyes, the way he squirmed when he felt uncomfortable and the way his nose wrinkled when he was concentrating. She loved his laugh and the way he walked. But obviously, she couldn't see those things now. Chad was inanimate now.

She could, however, make do with the other things. Things she could see now. She's always loved his hair. Not just the way it looked, but the way it felt when she twiddled the curls between her fingers.

Troy and Gabriella watched as Taylor brought a hand to Chad's curls and felt them fondly.

Another thing she never wanted to forget was the feel of his heart beating through his chest. There were times, long ago, when they would just hang out in his bedroom. They would lie together on his bed, never doing more than kissing. Most of the time, they would just stare up at the ceiling and talk. She always enjoyed lying with her hand draped over his chest so that she could feel his heartbeats.

Troy and Gabriella continued to watch as Taylor traced a hand over Chad's chest with a wistful smile on her face.

The final thing, and the most important, was the feeling of his lips on hers. He was wearing a mask over his mouth and nose and had a tube in his throat so she kissed him on the cheek instead. It was just a quick peck, like he'd always loved, but she lingered by his face afterwards.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear just as a doctor entered.

The doctor, Doctor Sankey, didn't have to say anything. The look on his face said enough. It was time.

Taylor stepped back and stood beside Troy and Gabriella in the corner of the room.

Sankey stood over Chad and looked at the three other teens in front of him. "Are you sure you wanna stay for this?" He asked.

They didn't move.

Dr. Sankey nodded and without a second thought, he flicked the switch on the machine keeping Chad alive to 'off'.

There was no change.

They say that when someone dies you can feel their presence leaving the room. Either that wasn't true or… Chad wasn't dead.

Then came the weirder part. The rhythmic beating of Chad's heart, which was monitored by a different machine, didn't stop. The doctor checked the life-support machine. It was definitely off. He checked the heart monitor. It was definitely hooked up correctly. He used the stethoscope around his neck to hear Chad's heart. Sure enough, he heart it beating. But there was no way…

He glanced up at Troy, Taylor and Gabriella. They returned equally perplexed expressions.

Rushing around to the other side of the bed, Sankey single-handedly removed the mask from Chad's face and the tube from his throat. He leaned close to Chad's face and to his extreme surprise, felt the boy's warm breath on mis cheek.

The doctor stood upright. "But… that's impossible." He whispered to himself.

From the corner, Troy stepped forward. "What's going on?" He asked.

Dr. Sankey looked at him. "It seems your friend is breathing on his own again." He uttered, barely believing the words himself.

There was a momentary silence before Gabriella timidly spoke. "Does that mean he's alive?"

Sankey thought hard before answering. He didn't believe in miracles. Never had. But what was happening here, right in front of him, was unexplainable by any laws, rules or science. "I suppose so." He said. "Yeah, I-… yeah."

The words were hardly registering. Chad had been 'dead' for months. Now suddenly he was alive?

"So…" Taylor said unsurely. "What happens now?"

The doctor picked up Chad's chart and peered over it. "This is a major improvement." He stated the obvious. "I have every reason to believe you friend will make a full recovery." Noticing the optimistic smiles in front of him, Sankey backtracked, not wanting to give them too much false hope. "It may take a very long time." He said. "And I can guarantee, it won't be easy. For anyone."

Troy laughed breathlessly with happiness and relief. Taylor wore an enormous smile and Gabriella's eyes twinkled with unshed tears of joy.

"That's fantastic!" Taylor whispered.

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed as Troy took her hand in his and pulled her close to him. "And things will only get better."

**_xX M Xx_**


	18. 17

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**17. **

And things did start to get better. Much better. Troy and Gabriella began to rebuild their relationship, Taylor started going back to her old self, the whispers and rumours at school simmered down and even Chad showed a little improvement; a twitch of the fingers or a quiet sigh every once in a while.

You could say all these positives lulled the gang into a false sense of security because they were far from prepared when things started getting strange again.

"Gabriella!" Troy called out, half jogging half walking towards his girlfriend who stood about to open her locker.

She saw him approaching and smiled. As he got closer, Troy opened his arms and when he reached Gabriella he took her into his arms and hugged her.

"Hey." He greeted, burying his nose in her hair so that when he spoke, his breath tickled her ear. She shivered with pleasure.

"Hey."

Troy pulled out of the hug. "I'm glad I caught you before class." He told her. "We need to talk."

Gabriella leaned against her locker. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Definitely not." He assured her. "It's just, the last few months have been really hard on us all, you know, and I just wanted you to know that, no matter what, I'll always love you."

Gabriella grinned. "I know. I love you too." She said patting him gently on the arm. She paused. "Was that…all?" It was a nice thing for him to say but… random.

Troy shrugged. "Pretty much."

Gabriella chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Oh, Troy." She sighed. "You're so…"

"Fantastic?" Troy offered.

"Hmmm…" Gabriella made a big deal of acting like she was thinking hard. "No. I don't think that's the word I was looking for." She joked.

"Hey!" Troy pouted and tried to look hurt.

"Aww." Gabriella cooed sympathetically. "Don't worry Wildcat. Maybe one day."

Troy chuckled and Gabriella broke out into hysterical giggles. She stopped abruptly when she noticed the genuine expression of horror on Troy's face.

Troy's brow creased and he squinted to try and focus in something at the end of the corridor behind Gabriella…

Gabriella turned around and scanned Troy's line of sight to see what had distracted him. "What is it?" she asked, turning back to him after seeing nothing of interest. "What's the matter?"

At first she thought Troy must have not heard her because he continued to peer down the corridor without answering. Then suddenly he looked back at her.

"I…I…" he stuttered. He cleared his throat. "Nothing." He forced an unconvincing smile. "I just-… thought I saw-…. You know, never mind." He sighed. His eyes flickered one more time to the distance. "I'll see you in class." He kissed Gabriella quickly on the mouth and hurried away.

Gabriella watched him go. That was strange, she thought.

Stranger though was the fact that Troy could have sworn he'd just seen Frank. But that would be impossible. Right?

After Troy was out of sight, Gabriella got back to fetching her books out of her locker. Her locker was always neat and everything always in place, so she noticed right away that something was off.

But what? Her books were all present in their correct order of size. Her jacket was there on the shelf. Her picture of Troy on the inside of the door. Her bracelet at the bottom.

Her bracelet. She hadn't seen that for months. She was sure she'd lost it when Frank had trashed her locker.

She didn't know what to do. There was only one explanation and that didn't bare thinking about. She closed her locker slowly and just walked away, hoping that next time she looked, the bracelet would be gone again.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"Sharpay?" Taylor said with surprise.

"Shh!" Called Ms. Fulseff, the school librarian.

Of all the places Taylor thought she'd ever see Sharpay Evans, the library was least likely. Sharpay looked up from the book she had been reading while simultaneously slamming it shut and tossing it under the table in an attempt to hide it.

She relaxed when she saw Taylor and set about retrieving her book.

"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked, taking a seat next to Sharpay. When she resurfaced from under the table, Sharpay answered.

"It's the only place quiet enough to study.

Taylor pulled a face. "Yeah, but I never pictured you here…. No offence."

Sharpay shrugged. "I try to keep it hush, you know. Don't wanna ruin my image…. No offence!"

"Shh!" 

Sharpay shot a glare at Ms. Fulseff who had a warning finger to her lips.

Taylor chuckled. She peered down at the book in Sharpay's hands. "What are you reading?" She whispered.

Sharpay showed Taylor the cover. "Great Expectations…. Charles Dickens."

"Nice…" Taylor said unenthusiastically.

"I know right?!" Sharpay giggled.

Another shh came from the librarian who narrowed her eyes at the two.

Taylor sighed. "So, anyway," She said quietly. "Now that I've found you, I just wanted to say thanks…. For helping Chad."

"It's no problem, I-."

"If you hadn't been there," Taylor continued. "He'd be dead now. I really appreciate that."

Sharpay smiled warmly. "He's a good guy… you're lucky to have him."

"I know."

"Even if he is a brainless basketballer." She added.

Taylor was about to speak when a tinny ringtone rang out, breaking the silence. Sharpay jumped and pulled a pink phone from her pocket. She flicked it open and checked the caller ID. She didn't recognise the number but answered anyway.

"Hello?" She frowned. "Who is this?" She looked around as if being watched.

Taylor didn't know what was happening but with concern mouthed; 'What's wrong?'. Sharpay shrugged and continued to listen to the voice on the other end of the line.

"What? How do you-?" She stopped and pulled the phone away from her ear. "It's for you." She told Taylor.

"Hmm?"

Sharpay just shrugged again and handed the cell to Taylor.

"Hello?" Taylor asked apprehensively. Only a few words were spoken in reply, but the voice was instantly recognisable. Frank. And his message was clear. Four words;

"It's not over yet."

* * *

**A/N: **And I leave you on a cliffy yet again... I'll try to update more regularly but I'm still offline so it might be a while. Keep reviewing though!

**_xX M Xx_**


	19. 18

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**18. **

"He's back."

"Yeah."

"I know."

"What do we do?" Gabriella asked. She was relieved to not be the only one to have an encounter with Frank but at the same time, the fact that they had all seen or heard from him meant that he was definitely back in the picture.

Troy sighed. "I've already told the cops."

"And the guards at the hospital are back on full alert." Taylor added.

"How long have you known?" Gabriella was surprised at how quickly it was being dealt with and how calm they all seemed to be about it. It was clear that they had all grown up a bit since the start of the school year.

"I just found out yesterday." Troy explained.

"Sane here." Added Taylor. "He called me." A troubled expression crossed her face but disappeared almost instantly. "He said it wasn't over yet."

Gabriella thought deeply and said, "He wants to go out with a bang."

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "And I bet he'll stop at nothing to have us all dead."

Gabriella gasped. "Troy!"

"He's right though, Gabriella." Taylor pointed out sadly. "It's not about avoiding capture for him anymore. We messed things up for Frank. The whole world knows what a monster he is and he has nowhere to hide…. All he wants now is revenge."

There was a moments silence as the words sank in.

"We need to stay in groups." Troy made clear. "Don't go anywhere alone or in the dark." He told both girls.

The troubled look returned to Taylor's face. This was all becoming a bit much. All this time they had tried to act mature and put brave faces on, but when it came down to it they were still just a bunch of kids. They were in great danger, living their lives in fear. All they wanted was for things to get back to normal. But even if Frank was caught and locked up, things would _never_ go back to normal.

In fact, that very day, things would change forever.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Troy broke his own rules. He went out alone. He went to see Chad at the hospital. But he couldn't help it. Since word of Frank's return, he couldn't stand to leave his friend lying vulnerable and alone. Even with the guards around, it just felt wrong.

When he got home that day, after seeing Frank, Troy reclaimed his knife. He had tucked it away under his bed, sure that he would never need it again. But Frank could attack at any time and he was certainly armed. Troy had to be able to defend himself.

When he got to the hospital, he sat back in his usual chair in the corner of the room. He was pleased to see that Chad was looking noticeably better. He started speaking to his friend like he would if Chad was awake. He spoke about school and sport and Gabriella. He told Chad how Taylor was doing and how the team wishes him well. He didn't tell Chad that Frank was back. He didn't want to worry him.

The sun started to go down. Troy's eyelids grew heavier. It occurred to him that he should probably go home. But his parents were used to him staying out at the hospital. He would even bring his homework there sometimes. He tried to keep his eyes open but it was a fight he couldn't win and, before long, he was fast asleep.

He awoke with a start. The room was dark. The sun had set. And something was wrong. Total silence. An unfamiliar occurrence in this room. The space was devoid of its usual beeps and hisses and hums. There wasn't a sound to be heard but Troy's breathing.

He was about to stand, turn on a light and investigate when a shuffling noise broke the silence.

Troy's blood ran cold. He wasn't alone.

He didn't move. He was hidden in the darkness of the corner of the room. He gave himself a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Before long, shapes started to appear. Something big was moving beside Chad's bed. It was obvious it was the source of the shuffling noise Troy had heard.

In silence, he watched the silhouette move, its outline becoming clearer with time. It hung over Chad, unhooking his wires and monitors. Troy supposed it could have been a doctor, doing his rounds and checking on Chad. It could have been a figment of his imagination. For all he knew, he could still be sleeping.

Of course, it could have been Frank. From what Troy saw next, that possibility seemed most likely.

The silhouette moved suddenly and nothing could mistake the clear shape of an arm raised above Chad's body with a knife in hand.

Troy didn't think. Dream or not, he had to stop this before his best friend was killed right in front of him. He knew he didn't have time to physically stop Frank so he shouted to get his attention.

"Stop!" He yelled.

Frank was obviously surprised as his weapon-yielding arm fell to his side and his head shot in the direction of Troy's cry.

Not wasting any time, Troy took Frank's surprise to his advantage and sprung out of his chair, launching himself at him. Chad's bed stood between Troy and Frank, but adrenaline must have been working it's magic on him as Troy leapt clean over it, landing right on top of Frank.

To Troy's surprise and anguish, Frank did not fall to the floor as expected. He wobbled only slightly, even with Troy hanging off him. With his free hand, Frank pushed Troy away, sending him falling backwards onto Chad's bed. Troy lay on his back and kicked out with his legs, thankfully aiming correctly and catching Frank's knees with his feet.

Frank yelped and stumbled backwards, giving Troy enough time to get to his feet. Thinking quick, Troy remembered an alarm switch on the wall that would alert doctors and nurses if something was wrong with Chad.

Whilst dodging Frank who was charging back towards him, Troy ran to the nearest wall and traced it for the switch. He could hear Frank approaching quickly behind him and desperately searched the wall for anything. He found a switch and didn't hesitate to turn it on just as firm hands grabbed his back and threw him to the floor where he landed hard on his side.

There was no alarm sound. Instead, the room was flooded with light. It stung Troy's eyes but he noticed another chance to get the better of Frank as, in reflex action, the boy had squeezed his eyes shut to protect them from the harsh light.

Troy got to his feet again and threw a punch at Franks face. Frank reeled backwards in pain as Troy threw another punch. Frank's eyes opened just in time to see Troy's fist coming. He was too late to stop it impacting his cheek.

Frank pulled back and lashed out a kick in Troy's direction. It hit Troy clean in the stomach and left him gasping for air. Frank took the opportunity of momentary advantage to throw three punches at Troy. The third and most forceful punch sent Troy falling on his back.

Just as Frank leaned over Troy to get more punches in, Troy grabbed one of Frank's arms and pulled him down to the floor. Before Frank could move, Troy climbed on top of him in an attempt to still him. His weight was enough to detain Frank who writhed and wriggled to no avail. Now Troy had Frank where he wanted him. It wasn't about self-defence anymore. It was about teaching Frank a lesson.

Frank groaned and gasped as Troy attacked him with punch after punch, mainly aimed at his face. Troy didn't stop when he felt Frank's nose break under his fist. He didn't stop when he felt some of his fingers crack. He didn't stop when his knuckles were covered in a mess of his own and Frank's blood. Frank had wrecked his life. He had wrecked the lives of his best friends and his girlfriend. Frank had planned and tried to kill all of them. And now the tables had been turned.

"Please…." Frank gurgled on his own blood. His face was a mess; drenched in sweat and blood, bruised and swollen out of all recognition. "I'm… s-so…sorry." He begged. Some of his blood sprayed up onto Troy's face. Troy could taste it.

Exhausted, Troy stopped lashing out. He panted for air, still sat on top of Frank.

Then, Frank did something that totally surprised him. He smiled. His battered face twisted into a sick smile. And he laughed. He threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"Who'd have thought, Blue-Eyes…?" He began. Troy couldn't shake the feeling that Frank was mocking him. The dirty loser had no right. "You're a man after all!"

"Shut up." Troy warned through clenched teeth.

"I mean it." Frank didn't take the warning. His smirk remained and eyes twinkled with glee. "You really have excelled yourself."

"What is wrong with you?!" Troy cried out. "You really are one sick-…" He trailed off. No word could come close enough to describe Frank.

Frank's smile grew to show his pink, blood-stained teeth. There were a couple missing. "Go on." He urged. "One sick what?" When Troy didn't answer, Frank continued to taunt him. "I bet Daddy Bolton is so proud. His little boy's all grown up."

"I told you to shut up." Troy warned again. His fists tightened.

Frank sighed and turned his head sideways to see Chad who lay oblivious in bed a mere foot or two away. "It's a shame Danforth's old man couldn't be here to see how his kid has matured. It's a real shame…."

Troy frowned. How could Frank know about Chad's dad? That wasn't common knowledge.

He shrugged it off. He couldn't allow Frank to get to him. "I bet your dad would be so proud of you too." He spat bitterly. "You're keeping up the family tradition of being a dumb, useless criminal."

Frank's smile faltered. That had hit him. "My father is more of a man than you will ever be." He shot back defensively.

Now it was Troy's turn to smile. "You think so?" He didn't wait for Frank to answer. "Your father killed innocent people to make himself feel bigger. He had to steal for money because he was too dumb to get a decent job. And he ended up making a waste-of-space son like you…. Real manly…."

Frank's smile disappeared completely. It was replaced with an angry scowl. "Do you know why my dad killed?" He asked. Troy shrugged carelessly. "Because he could. They couldn't stop him. No-one could stop him. He was too powerful."

"So, he's in jail now… why?" Troy asked sarcastically.

"He's in jail because some _idiot _kidat the jewellery store he was robbing called the cops!"

Something seemed familiar to Troy. "Jewellery store?" He asked quietly, hoping he was wrong.

Frank smiled again. "Yeah, 'J. McHarman'. Do you know it?" He knew Troy knew. This was what he had been waiting for.

"That was your dad?" Troy asked with shock. "Your dad killed Chad's!"

"Uh-huh." Frank said, grinning with pride.

"And the kid that called the cops…?"

Frank nodded, his smile sinking once again. "Danforth over there." He looked in Chad's direction.

"And that's why you're doing all this." It was all becoming clear now.

Frank nodded again. "Well… that and how fun it is to see you suffer." He gazed distantly at the ceiling, as if in bliss.

"You disgust me."

But Frank ignored him. "I love to see your horror-filled eyes."

"That's wrong."

He didn't listen. "I love to hear you scream."

"Stop it."

He didn't. "I love it when you beg."

"Shut up!"

"When you plead for me to have mercy."

"Stop!"

"And the helpless look on your tearstained faces."

"_STOP!!_"

Frank seemed to snap out of his trance-like state. His gaze shot to Troy's eyes. He stared deep into them before adding; "Just like Gabriella's."

"I told you to stop." Mentioning Gabriella was a step too far.

"I should have killed the dirty bitch when I had the chance."

In one smooth motion, Troy's hand dipped into his back pocket, retrieved the knife and thrust it straight at Frank.

* * *

**A/N: **Long time no submit. Sorry about that. I've got my exams over the next few eeks and with all the coursework and revision I haven't had time to write. Good news is, I'm now off on study leave giving me more time to update. Bad/Good news is, the next chapter will be the penultimate...

Reviews make it worthwhile!!

**_xX M Xx_**


	20. 19

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

**19.**

It was like they always say. The next few seconds went in slow motion. Slicing the knife through the air towards Frank was like cutting through wet cement. Troy saw Frank's face twist into an expression of surprise and terror. A drop of sweat appeared on his brow.

The tip of the blade was barely a millimetre away from Frank's body when Troy was suddenly halted.

"Stop!"

He did. Frank exhaled with relief; an action that repulsed Troy. Why did he stop? He should have just killed him. He was going to kill him. He was going to end it.

"He deserves to die." Troy stated calmly. His eyes remained fixed on the tiny gap between his knife and Frank's chest. "Why shouldn't I kill him?"

The answer was a revelation. "He's not worth it." Troy hadn't thought about the repercussions. He would be arrested for murder. He could serve time in prison, something that not he, but Frank deserved. Gabriella would be alone.

And then another shocking eye-opener. The voice that had stopped him…

"Chad?" Troy's gaze shot to the bed beside him. He'd thought his ears must have deceived him. But there he was. Chad. Sitting upright. Eyes open. Watching. Even smiling a little.

Troy gasped. "Chad!" Chad's smile grew. A huge bright grin spread across Troy's face. "You're awake!"

Troy wanted nothing more than to jump up and hug his best friend. But obviously, he had to detain Frank on the floor. Frank who, since Chad's waking, had become increasingly irate.

He snarled. "I almost killed you!" Was all he could think of to say.

Chad ignored him. His memory was cloudy. He knew Frank had put him in hospital but he couldn't quite remember why or how. Right now, he didn't want to. He continued to stare at Troy. "You look tired, man."

Troy chuckled. "Dude," he said. "You've been in a coma for months… don't comment on my looks."

Chad's smile sank a little. "Coma? How long…?"

Troy ignored Frank wriggling beneath him. "Ages man…. We thought you were gone for good."

The atmosphere in the room grew solemn. It was clear the subject was making Troy emotional. Even in his groggy state, Chad could see the remorse on Troy's face… the emotional scars behind his eyes.

"How's Taylor?" He asked.

Troy shrugged. "She's good. She'll be happy to see you."

"And Gabriella?" As he mentioned her name, Chad remembered a bit of how he got into this situation. The image of Gabriella pinned against a wall with Frank's hand around her throat entered his mind. "Did she get out okay?" He was worried that Frank had got to her too.

Troy frowned, not quite understanding the question.

"Hey!" Frank interrupted. "Could you two catch up another time? And you get the hell off of me?!"

Troy pulled a face. He despised Frank more and more every time the boy opened his mouth. But he did have a point. He couldn't sit on him forever. He spotted the button he had been looking for earlier. The alarm button. Chad saw him looking at it and knew immediately what to do. The button was just beside his bed and he barely had to reach for it to press it. The alarm rang out loud and clear. Troy smiled. He'd missed this unspoken connection between him and Chad.

The next series of events passed as a blur to both Troy and Chad. A large collection of doctors, nurses and guards entered promptly. The guards dragged Frank from under Troy and out of the room. Troy watched as the doctors surrounded Chad assaulting him with question after question about how he felt, how many fingers they were holding up and all sorts of things like that.

Before long, the boys were alone again.

An overwhelmed Chad sighed with exhaustion. Although he had only just woken up, he felt as if he hadn't slept in days.

Sensing his friends fatigue, Troy glanced at the clock. "'S getting late, man." He said quietly. "I should go"

Chad nodded and tried to hide his disappointment. He wanted to catch up with everything he had missed. Troy said he had been out for months. A lot could have happened in that time. "See you tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"Course." Troy replied. "I'll bring Taylor and Gabriella too." He patted Chad on the chest and headed out the door.

The second he was alone, Troy felt a feeling of anguish sweep over him as he began to wonder what would have happened had Chad not awoken when he did. Troy had been so close to killing Frank. So close to ending the life of another. That scared him.

Because he knew, deep inside, he would have done it.

He got outside the hospital just in time to hear the distant wail of the police car siren that was taking Frank away.

His hand fell on the knife in his pocket. He was hit with a sudden disgust for himself, realising he had become a monster with the intent to kill much like Frank. He was stupid. He wasn't thinking. He could've hurt someone. Or himself. He could've faced a criminal conviction.

He sat on the concrete pavement and leaned on an outer wall beside the entrance of the hospital. Before he could stop himself, he began to cry. The view of the knife he twirled in his hands blurred as his eyes filled with tears.

He stopped when he heard his cell phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket, sniffed and answered.

"Hello?"

"Troy?" It was Gabriella. "Troy, where are you? We've been worried sick!" She told him with both worry and relief. "Your parents called me," She explained. "And they said you never came home."

"Yeah, I-." Troy started to answer but Gabriella wasn't finished.

"You didn't call. I mean, what were you thinking? Staying out this late? On your own? With Frank still on the loose?"

"He's not." Troy cut in.

There was a pause.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked, finally calming down.

"He's not." He repeated. "'On the loose'. Frank, I mean. They caught him."

"Wh-What? When?!"

"Just now." Troy said simply. "He was in Chad's room. Came to finish the job."

"Oh my God." Gabriella breathed. "Well, is he okay?"

Troy frowned and began to get to his feet. "Who?"

Gabriella sighed. "Chad, of course."

Troy brushed the dirt from his jeans. "Oh, yeah. He's fine."

"Good."

"Better than fine actually."

"How do you mean?" Gabriella asked.

"He's awake."**A/N: **So like I said, this is the penultimate chapter. Boo. I still love reviews though.. so keep 'em coming!

* * *

_**xX M Xx**_


	21. 20

A Problem Shared

**A Problem Shared**

**Summary:** During a new year at East High, the gang are terrorised by a violent bully. They decide to take things into their own hands with disastrous consequences. An experience that will change them all. Forever. Packed with Troyella and Chaylor. See TRAILER for details. xx

**Disclaimer:** If you know it, I don't own it. Boo hoo.

--

**20.**

The next day came like Christmas. Gabriella jumped out of bed first thing in the morning and dashed across her room to her phone. She dialled Taylor's number hoping she'd have more luck getting through to her than she had night before.

The phone was answered on the fifth ring.

"Tay?!" Gabriella said excitedly.

There was some rustling in the background before Taylor answered. "Hmm?" She groaned.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked.

"It's…six…_six _in the morning Gabriella. What do you think I'm doing?"

Gabriella laughed. "Well get out of bed because _I _have news you." She told Taylor in a pleased sing-song tone.

Taylor yawned. "Can't it wait?"

"NO!" Gabriella insisted.

Taylor sighed. "Go on then."

Gabriella couldn't stop herself from laughing with joy, knowing how significant her next few words would be. They would change Taylor's life. They would make her happier than she had ever been. They would-.

"Uh… _hello_?" Taylor pushed, dying to get back to sleep.

"Okay… so, what do you want to hear first? The good news or the better news?"

"Surprise me." Answered an unimpressed Taylor.

"We don't have to worry about Frank anymore." Gabriella said. "The police got him last night."

Taylor sat up. "You serious? That's great!"

"Oh, you haven't heard the best bit yet." Gabriella teased.

In the back of her mind, Taylor was hoping Gabriella would tell her Chad had woken up. But it seemed so unlikely. The idea of him _ever _waking up had left her ages ago. Now, the slightest inkling of hope had returned. "Is-… is it Chad?" She asked, mentally crossing her fingers.

Gabriella laughed again. "You just _had _to take all the fun out of it, didn't you."

"What do you mean?" Taylor had to be sure.

"Chad's awake, Tay." Gabriella explained. "And he wants to see you."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Gabriella, Troy and Taylor were at the hospital within minutes, each one of them equally as eager to see their long, lost friend.

They were greeted with smiles and waves from the hospital staff they had grown so familiar to, but acknowledgements went almost unnoticed by the three whose only concern was getting to Chad's room.

They were almost running by the time they got to Chad's corridor, striding purposefully to the end where his room was located. And they didn't hesitate from bursting without warning, through the door once they got to it.

Chad was sitting upright in the centre of his hospital bed, fiddling with the remote control for the TV in the corner. He looked up with surprise the instant the door opened. When he saw who was there, a huge grin appeared on his face.

"Hi guys," he greeted as if he'd seen them just the day before. He tossed the remote aside and looked at them expectantly.

Troy raised a hand and waved rather awkwardly. "Hi."

Gabriella smiled with a certain shyness about her and Taylor greeted with only a nod. The three of them stood still in the doorway looking unsure and maybe even afraid to step fully in to the room.

Chad noticed this and his smile grew. "You can come in if you want." He joked.

And as if they had been holding their breath, they all sighed simultaneously with relief and visibly relaxed.

Taylor was the first to approach the bed. She kissed him wordlessly on the cheek and nudged him a bit. Knowing what she wanted, Chad scooched over in the bed to allow her space to sit with him.

It wasn't much of a reunion but she wanted to wait until they were alone before she let her true feelings show. After months of not having him, she could hold on a little bit longer.

Next was Gabriella. She hugged Chad gently and flashed him a smile. "It's good to see you awake again." She told him with a pat on the shoulder.

He smiled with gratitude.

Troy was the last to come in. With Taylor and Gabriella surrounding him, it was hard for Troy to get to Chad but he held out a fist and Chad reached up and touched knuckles with him.

"How've you been, man?" Troy asked taking his usual chair from the corner and pulling it closer to the bed. He sat down and Gabriella moved from beside the bed to sit on his lap.

Chad shrugged. "Oh," he sighed. "You know. Bored. Sore."

Taylor gave him a sympathetic look and ruffled his hair.

Chad smiled and playfully took her hand from his hair and held it tightly in his own.

Taylor felt a warmth in his hand that she hadn't felt in a long time. She squeezed it tighter, never wanting to let go and lose the feeling. She looked into his eyes, open and twinkling, and he stared back.

"But enough about me," he added finally. "How have you been?" The question was directed mainly at Taylor as he continued to gaze at her and take in every detail of her face. He hadn't seen her in so long.

"It's been tough," Taylor said sadly looking away from his eyes to look down at the bed sheets below her. "Without you."

Chad squeezed her hand, just to reassure her that he was there now and that he didn't intend on ever leave her again.

Sensing the intense moment between the couple, Gabriella silently nudged Troy. As much as she wanted t stay, Chad and Taylor needed time alone. Troy understood and he and Gabriella got to their feet.

Chad and Taylor looked at them with confusion.

"Where are you going?" Taylor asked.

"To get some snacks." Troy lied. "Hungry."

"We'll be right back." Gabriella added and with that they left.

They weren't going for snacks of course. Really, they were just travelling a bit down the hallway to spend some time alone.

After a few seconds of silence Troy sighed. "It's great, isn't it?" he said.

Gabriella nodded "It's all looking up."

They continued to walk and talk going in no particular direction.

"This whole thing's got me thinking." Troy told her. "About how much I love you. How much you mean to me. How it would be to lose you."

Gabriella took his hand and he continued.

"And, well, I know we might not be together forever. But right now, I can't imagine being without you."

Gabriella smiled, her heart being warmed by Troy's words. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Troy. I've never known or cared for anyone like you. I trust you with my life."

Troy nodded. "That's good." He said. "Because what I'm about to ask you…" he stopped her and they stood face to face. "It needs a lot of trust."

Gabriella's heart raced. She held her breath. Troy took both of her hands in his and then, to her surprise, got down on one knee. Gabriella gasped. Her legs shook.

"I know we're a bit young," Troy started. "And I'm not suggesting we do it anytime soon. If anything, we should wait a few years…."

Gabriella flushed hot.

"But I love you so much and want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"So what I'm saying is… would you consider… one day… being my wife?"

Left speechless, Gabriella could do nothing but nod enthusiastically.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"So…" Chad started as soon as the door was shut behind Gabriella and Troy. "We're alone."

Taylor nodded and bowed her head silently.

Chad realised she was shaking and it wasn't long before he saw tears falling down her cheeks even as she tried to hide them.

He opened his arms. "C'mere." He said with a sympathetic understanding.

She sniffed and looked at him before crawling without reluctance into his arms. He embraced her supportively and she sobbed into his shoulder, her tears sinking through his hospital gown and onto his skin.

"Why did you leave me?" she mumbled between sobs.

Chad rubbed her back. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

Taylor wriggled out of the hug and positioned herself beside him. She pulled his cover over them both and draped her head and an arm over his chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You died, Chad." She said quietly when her tears had subsided. "You actually died. And even when they brought you back, even when they said you were getting better, I was still expecting you to die again. And for real. I was so prepared for you to die, and I know it sounds wrong, I do, but I wasn't prepared for you to wake up." She sighed. "And in a way, it's harder. Because we've not spoken in so long, we're like strangers."

Chad allowed the words to sink in and then answered. "Do you still love me?

Taylor nodded. "Of course. More than anything."

"Then we can rebuild our relationship from there."

"It won't be easy." She said, though hope glimmered in her eyes.

"But we can do it." He leaned over and kissed her on the head.

At that moment, a flustered, beaming and snack-less Gabriella and Troy returned. Noticing the damp on both Chad and Taylor's cheeks, Gabriella asked with concern; "Are you two okay?"

Chad and Taylor looked at one another and then at Gabriella and Troy.

"We will be." Said Chad.

And it was true. Eventually things would return to the way they used to be. The events of the year would never be forgotten and East High would never be the same again but they had survived and with survival came a new found strength in the groups' relationship. They proved that their friendship alone was strong enough to defeat the biggest threat they could ever imagine. Their unique bond could never be broken.

_A problem shared between four close friends is a problem solved._

_End_

**A/N: **It's finally over and I'd just like to say a HUGE thanks to the people who have read or will read my story. I wouldn't have been able to fine the motivation to continue it without the support I got from your reviews. Special thanks to (Whoever) who has reviewed every chapter. I much appreciate it. I really hope you weren't disappointed by the ending.

**Look out for my next story: **I've just started on a one-shot which will be entitled _'Guilt'_. It features all the gang including Sharpay and Ryan. I will submit it as soon as it's done so look out for it and review. Below is the teaser trailer for it!

(Apologies if this idea has been used before)

Coming soon…

**It was a night of celebration**

Taylor: So, it's finally our last night working at this hell-hole.

Camera pans along faces of Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Ryan and Sharpay as they stand on a hill watching the stars.

Gabriella: The question is; how do we celebrate?

Troy: Grinning I have an idea…

**Until things turned deadly**

A car speeds through the desert with Troy at the wheel. Gabriella is in the passenger seat and the others in the back. The car hits something and stops.

Sharpay: Whispering What was that?

**And in the darkness and seclusion of the desert**

Chad, Troy and Ryan get out of the car and look around. They are surrounded by darkness.

In the car Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay wait anxiously. Gabriella switches on the cars lights, illuminating the space outside and revealing a body on the ground.

**The gang must deal with the murderous crime they have committed**

Ryan: Kneeling beside the body He's dead.

Chad walks away shaking his head.

**And make a decision that will change their lives forever.**

Sharpay: So what do we do?

Taylor: We need to call the police.

Ryan looks doubtful.

Gabriella: Shocked You want to cover it up?!

Troy: Whispering It was an accident.

Chad: It's the middle of the desert.

**Guilt.**

Ryan: Whispering They'll never find him.


End file.
